Hemp clothing: how to read the label in 5 points

The word “hemp” on a textile label has an exact legal meaning. In Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011, it appears as “true hemp”, a “fibre obtained from the bast of hemp (Cannabis sativa)”. Bast is the fibrous layer of the stem, just under the bark. Flax, or linen (entry 7), and jute (entry 9) are defined in the same way; all three are bast fibres that look and feel alike.

Because they are so similar, you cannot identify the fibre by touch: a rough cloth may be linen and a soft one hemp. The composition line is what counts, and a collection name such as “Hemp Line” or “Natura” cannot replace it. Article 16 of the regulation also says that a brand name containing a fibre name must sit immediately before or after the composition line.

Under Article 9, the label must give “the name and percentage by weight of all constituent fibres” in descending order, so the first fibre listed always weighs the most. These examples are fictional:

These figures come with three tolerances. Under Article 7, a product labelled “100%” may contain 2% of foreign fibres if they are technically unavoidable and were not added deliberately. Article 9 lets one fibre of up to 5% by weight, or several adding up to 15%, be grouped as “other fibres”. Article 20 sets a manufacturing tolerance of 3% between the label and a laboratory analysis, so a “55% hemp” garment may come out at 52% or 58% in an analysis.

Not always. When a garment combines different textiles, Article 11 requires the fibre content “of each component”. Parts weighing less than 30% of the total are exempt, but that exemption never extends to the main lining. A hemp jacket with a polyester lining must therefore carry two lines, one for the outer and one for the lining.

Averaging the lines gives you nothing useful. Unless you know the weight of each part, “55% hemp” outside and “100% polyester” inside add up to no overall percentage. Compare like with like: outer with outer, lining with lining.

Origin is absent from the composition label, because the European regulation deals only with fibres; its Article 1 confines it to fibre names and composition. France added an origin requirement through decree No 2022-748, under the AGEC anti-waste law. For a textile, the product sheet must state the country where weaving, dyeing and printing, and making-up took place.

Large companies were the first to be covered. The French ecology ministry's FAQ says the rule has applied since 2023 above €50 million in turnover and 25,000 units sold per year, and since 2025 from €10 million and 10,000 units. Small brands do not have to comply. The information appears on an online sheet and may be missing from the sewn-in label.

Even that sheet leaves out the country where the plant grew, so a garment “woven in France” may contain hemp fibre grown elsewhere. If agricultural origin matters to you, ask the seller for it and for proof. Our notes on hemp growing in France and on hemp acreage in Europe describe the sector, but they cannot tell you where the fibre of a given shirt came from.

A certification label has to be read on its own terms: name of the standard, certifying body, a number you can verify and the scope. When the fibre is certified, the finished garment is not automatically covered.

The European regulation does not require care symbols. Its Article 24 even lists “a harmonised care labelling system” among the subjects the Commission had yet to study. In practice, brands use the symbols of the GINETEX association, also adopted in the ISO 3758 standard, for washing, bleaching, drying, ironing and professional care.

The symbols apply to the whole garment, whatever its main fibre. A hemp and cotton blend, a dye or a lining may need a lower temperature than plain hemp cloth would. If there are no symbols, ask for written instructions for the item you picked, and take a photo of the label before you cut it off.

Under Article 16 of the regulation, composition information must be “clearly visible to the consumer before the purchase, including in cases where the purchase is made by electronic means”. Paragraph 3 of the same article requires labelling in the official language of the country of sale, which in France means French. A product page that says only “natural fabric” or “plant material” falls short of this rule, so ask for the exact line, part by part, before you order.

Textile hemp has a long European history, which our article on the history of hemp in France recounts. None of that history replaces a legible label on the garment you are holding.