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Sometime before being eco-fashionable and eco-friendly was cool enough to be featured on Alter Eco, Adidas introduced their first hemp shoe; this was in 1995. Much to the chagrin of certain U.S. politicians, the shoes, originally named "Chronics," have remained legal and popular since their release 13 years ago. Not only do these Adidas hemp shoes, eventually known as Gazelle Naturals and now in various other styles, appeal to a mostly young, oft cannabis-enjoying demographic, they more generally have become an enduring icon of eco-fashion to the larger population, regardless of personal cannabis beliefs or proclivities.
While hemp clothing, food, ropes, gear and other items have grown in popularity in recent years, hemp remains misunderstood and even feared by some. Laws surrounding its growth are complicated, but what is not complicated is that possessing, wearing, and eating industrial hemp is perfectly legal. Growing it in the U.S. is another story - that is not legal. It is legal in 33 countries around the world and so it is that (German) Adidas is able to legally make their hemp shoes and Americans are able to buy them.
But ignoring their marijuana-related status for a moment, which is indeed some of their youth-based appeal, the larger, more important legacy of the Adidas Hemp shoe has been to mainstream hemp apparel, forcing people to ask not only questions of what hemp actually is, but why you'd want to use it anyway. Hemp enthusiasts offer a barrage of statistics on their favorite plant, but it's most important eco-benefits are its durability and the fact that it requires very little treatment or pesticides to grow, harvest, and produce. Like bamboo, hemp grows quickly and is easy to harvest. Its seeds and oils offer tons of nutritional value. And, yes, it is related to that stuff people smoke to get high, but only related - not the same.
Adidas, with its status as a leading global athletic apparel manufacturer, has been instrumental in removing the stigma attached to hemp and making hemp cool, well-known and readily available. So whatever your feelings on cannabis, they need not hold bearing on your feelings on hemp. The importance of the Adidas hemp shoe has been to help make these distinctions and raise awareness of a material many believe, rightly, has been overly politicized and underutilized.
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