In episode 279, Kestrel welcomes Jono Salfield, the cofounder of Afends, to the show. A sustainability-focused brand based in Byron Bay, Australia, Afends recently started their own Hemp R&D facility – Sleepy Hollow Farm — delving into farming to grow their own hemp for future collections.
“Sustainability is just an evolution and being more innovative and looking at alternatives and trying things, to basically improve the way that we impact. Because we’re always gonna impact. And if you say that you’re not impacting, then you’re lying, really.” -Jono
We’ve definitely explored HEMP on past shows. We’ve explored the challenges in cultivating the fiber commercially, due to legislation that prevented that for the last century or so. We’ve talked about the many uses of the plant – from feeding to housing to healing to clothing you.
And this week, we’re talking about how to actually GROW THE PLANT for fiber production.
Our guest, Jono, is the cofounder of an Australia-based brand, Afends, and now, you could also say, a hemp farmer. Two things I very rarely encounter TOGETHER across my work in this space.
In 2021, he and his cofounder purchased nearby farmland to build a hemp R&D facility – Sleepy Hollow Farm. And recently, they harvested their first fiber, impressively growing enough to replace the hemp used in their current line. Throughout our chat, we get into the why, the how, the challenges and the wins they’ve experienced in their first foray into hemp farming.
But for real – how do you go from running a brand to buying farmland, getting your hands in the dirt and figuring out how to actually grow fiber!? As Jono tells us, “we kind of jump into the deep end a lot.”
I’d say so.
He shares more on why hemp is so freaking amazing (from both a farming and carbon-capture lens), the general process involved with retting and decordication, the challenges that still exist to turn the plant fiber into actual fabric, and more.
Quotes & links from the conversation:
“What we aim to do is show Australia, or even the rest of the world, that hemp is a fiber which can 1) be easily grown, 2) be potentially that next big fiber that can help decrease a bunch of the impacts that growing conventional cotton has.” -Jono (17:26)
“For us, looking at the farming from seed to skin was something really important to us, because yeah, you can go online and you can research everything until you’ve seen what everyone’s written. But I think there’s something really important about seeing things firsthand and discovering what it entails to do it yourself.” -Jono (17:55)
“The type of plant that we need to grow for textiles is fast-growing sativa plant, which we needed to get to maximum height and it needs to be super dense. The denser, the more plants in a small area, the better, because you’ll be able to grow more fiber, basically. Sourcing that seed was the first major challenge.” -Jono (20:18)
Retting Process = hemp gets cut down and left in the field to basically let the microbes start to help separate the fiber from the hurd
Decordication = separating the hurd from the fiber // the long stalk has fiber on the outside and hurd on the inside
“We’re not able to make that fiber into actual textiles in Australia, there’s just no facilities set up. So, we have to send it to China, to where we actually construct and make the textile material. And look, ideally, on a perfect sustainable level, everything’s just done within a few kilometers of where you’ve grown it, so the impact’s as small as possible. But, we’re not there yet.” -Jono (24:55)
“The other major positive behind it is that nothing goes to waste — especially when you’re growing fiber — because you’ve got this super dense field of really tall, stick-like plants, basically. There’s a little bit of leaf on top, but it’s not a thick cannibis plant with heaps of leaves and buds and stuff. But everything gets used. The hurd gets used for building, and then you’ve got the textiles from the fiber. So, the whole plant gets used. It’s quite incredible in that degree.” -Jono (29:03)
Watch *Weed Need Change* Hemp Docu-Series >
Afends Website >
Follow Afends on Instagram >
S05 Episode 260 | What are you latching onto? A special edition recap — highlighting what we learned on season 5 to take us intentionally into season 6
S05 Episode 259 | Georgina Johnson's book "The Slow Grind" & the inevitability of degrowth in fashion
S05 Episode 258 | Aja Barber on how the *affordability* story is fueling a messed up narrative & why we need a culture shift
S05 Episode 257 | Farai Simoyi of The Narativ on the need for safe spaces where global designers can be seen, valued, and heard & educating the next generation of fashion's leaders
S05 Episode 256 | Shilla Kim-Parker of Thrilling on the digitization of secondhand & supporting small business
S05 Episode 255 | Gee's Bend Quilters: the original purveyors of sustainability & exploring the meaning of an equitable collaboration with Mary Margaret Pettway & Greg Lauren
S05 Episode 254 | Johnathan Hayden on using a brand as an experiment, questioning ownership over one's trash & how augmented reality could impact sustainability in fashion
S05 Episode 253 | Advocating for the U.S. to appoint a fashion czar, what are The Green Guides and more on the intersections of politics & fashion
S05 Episode 252 | Frankie Collective on reimagining supply chains for *upcycling* & embracing sustainability and streetwear through reworked design
S05 Episode 251 | CiscoSews on the freedom in nonbinary design & experimentations with upcycling
S05 Episode 250 | Natalie Shehata on why *diversity* is tokenistic and advocating for holistic inclusion
S05 Episode 249 | Isiah Magsino on fashion's current obsession with *genderless* and paying respect to queer & trans communities who have been stepping out of the binary forever
S05 Episode 248 | Ocean Rose on botanical dyeing, sustainability as a collection of idiosyncrasies & the art of slowing down
S05 Episode 247 | Christian Allaire of Vogue on the deep meaning behind Indigenous ribbon work & fashion as a means to reclaim culture
S05 Episode 246 | Nia Thomas on building an autobiographical brand & breaking up with plug and play approaches to doing fashion
S05 Episode 245 | Eshita Kabra-Davies of By Rotation on fashion rental, making the sharing economy personal & challenging the pressure of *newness*
S05 Episode 244 | Alyssa Beltempo on creativity over consumption & shifting the narrative away from placing *all* responsibility on the consumer
S05 Episode 243 | Julia Perez of Jae and Leona on separating self care from capitalism, launching a skincare line during the pandemic & advocating for skincare as liberation
S05 Episode 242 | Questioning the meaning behind *regenerative fashion* and building new fashion systems with Christy Dawn & Oshadi Collective
S05 Episode 241 | Reimagining waste as a resource, creativity's battle against commerce & the importance of welcoming financial sustainability into the larger conversation
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Dairyland Frights
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL