ABOUT THTC

THTC is an ethically-driven underground clothing label that produces eco-friendly, politically conscious streetwear, made from either hemp or carbon neutral organic cotton, which capitalises on the mood of a disenchanted youth. 

Planted by the Lawson brothers back in 1999, watered with urban music, fed with love of life and street culture, THTC has grown into an influential global streetwear brand with a loyal following.

During THTC's first 10 years of trading the mainstay of all our products was organically grown hemp, which is driving THTC to the forefront of the crusade for hemp into the realm of credible, urban streetwear.  More recently, and due to limited availability of hemp fabric outside of China, THTC has sourced several ranges of carbon neutral, organic cotton t-shirts, hoodies, shopping bags and sweaters, all of which is certified by The Fair Wear Foundation, The Carbon Trust and The Soil Association. 

A history of activism:

THTC has been creating activist artwork for well over a decade. We work closely with the UK’s leading activist graffiti artist, Mau Mau.

THTC and Mau Mau have created designs to raise awareness of issues such as fast food, oil companies, over fishing, human trafficking, The Black Panthers, The London Olympics, Monsanto, pollution, CCTV, the banking sytem, global warming, Disney and globalisation. 

We are careful not to preach about such issues, and our designs reflect this. They are often satiristic, always intelligent and striking. 

The Clown Town design pictured above was created by THTC and Mau Mau to raise awareness about the inappropriate corporate sponsors of the London 2012 Olympics, and was painted onto the THTC warehouse wall in Ealing. The local council whitewashed over the design, deeming it ‘offensive’. THTC wrote a press release about Olympics related censorship, and the feature appeared on the websites for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The BBC and even on HBC NEWS in the USA.

Intelligent, well placed street art on privately owned walls can be a very powerful form of activism, especially when backed up with a promotional video for YouTube, as was the Clown Town piece.

Leading the party:

- THTC has created armchair activists from the most unnlikely people-working with undreds of MCs, DJs, actors and poets, inspiring markets that have been otherwise untouched by the ethical fashion industry.

- THTC has run creative workshops with young offenders, schools, povery schemes and disadvantaged kids. We believe youth culture has a lot to say.

- We use water based printing processes wherever possible when printing out products, and our fliers, catalogues, swing tags, press releases and other marketing materials are printed on recycled and sustainably sourced materials. 

- We has worked with several Upcycling companies to ensure that ourend of season products are not sold off cheaply or discarded, turning oldt-shirts into cushio covers, dresses, skirts and playsuits.

- All of the organic cotton garments we source are certified by The Soil Association, The Fair Wear Foundation and The Carbon Trust, all of which are also certified carbon neutral. 

- Around 80% of organic and ethical products are purchased by the female market, whereas THTC’s customer base is around 80% male.

- THTC sponsors loads of talented musicians, as well as many club events across the UK and beyond. Promoters often use the THTC logo on their fliers to add credibility to their events, such is the influence and respect  of the THTC label.  

- We plan to license THTC’s designs across the world to be printed, not only onto t-shirts and other clothing but also onto other sustainably sourced products, from greetings cards to stationary and reusable water bottles. 

Why Hemp?

- Hemp is the most diverse and envionmentally sound crop that can be grown, with thousands of uses

- Henry Ford built his first car from hemp, and Rudolph Diesel built his firest engine to run on hemp fuel

- Hemp can be grown in practically any climate, and needs no pesticides to be grown

- Hemp can be grown with 10% the water of conventional cotton 

- All products that are derived from timber or petroleum can be sustainably derived from hemp, including plastic

- Until its prohibition hemp was the world’s most traded commodity 

- Growing hemp for fuel absorbs CO2 and reverses the greenhouse effect. 

- Burning hemp for fuel produces very little CO2 and practically no sulphur, unlike petroleum 

- Growing hemp would allow nations worldwide to grow clean fuel, renewable medecine, paper, food and plastics

- Jesus used cannabis oil to anoint and heal the crippled, and original copies of the Bible were printed on hemp paper 

- Hemp can produce 10 times more methanol than corn.

- Trees cut down to make paper take 50 to 500 years to grow, while hemp can be cultivated in as little as 100 days and can yield 4 times more paper over a 20 year period.

For more information about hemp visit HEMP.COM or THE HIA. 

Beatbox:

Beatbox has become an integral part of hip hop and music culture in recent  years, with artists such as Beardyman, Reeps One and Shlomo breaking out of the urban music scene and becoming global stars. Beardyman has several videos on youtube with over 6 million views.

THTC is the clothing brand of choice amongst beatbox champions from the UK and is the official sponsor of the UK Beatbox Champs, and we have a large roster of highly talented beatboxers at our disposal for promotional purposes, videos and PR stunts.

We took a select few beatboxers to Occupy London, and to McDonalds in Leicester Square to shoot activist promotional videos, and intend to do the a similar thing to raise awareness about businesses such as Tesco, BP, Shell etc. 

THTC’s sponsored beatboxers have regularly appeared on TV in THTC t-shirts, including Blue Peter, and adverts for Hobnobs and Rowntrees sweets.

Beardyman has performed at the YouTube awards and the Google Seminars in THTC tees and Shlomo regularly curates his own beartbox shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and The Southbank.  Visit The Human Beatbox Official Website.

THTC’s fans and supporters include:

Sir Richard Branson, Jack Black, Colin Firth, Woody Harrelson, Professor Benjamin Zephaniah, Kabir Bedi, Gordon Roddick (Body Shop), Leo Johnson (The Mayor’s brother), Sinitta, Deborah Meaden, Ed Sheeran, Placebo’s Steve Forrest, Newton Faulkner, Damon Albarn (Blur), Paul Sharma (Eastenders), Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, Natty, Beardyman, Reeps One, The Foreign Beggars, Dynamite MC, Wu Tang Clan, DJ JFB, Afrika Bambaataa, Goldie, DJ Vadim, Sinaed O’Connor, Morcheeba, Asian Dub Foundation, Blak Twang, Addictive TV (Voted the world’s best VJs), DJ Switch, Ed Skrein, Bellatrix, Shlomo, Ball-Zee, Bass6, StaminaMC, DJ Hype, Beni G (Jack Beats), The Vocal Orchestra, Akil (Jurassic 5), Fathom Audio, Dizraeli and the Small Gods, The Lazy Habits, Duncan James (Blue), Cher Lloyd (X Factor), More Like Trees, Rodney P & Skitz, Phi-Life Cypher, Jehst, Beatfox, ASM and many more..

THTC Collaborations:

Over 14 years THTC has produced ethical, organic t-shirt ranges for over 100 artists, bands, charities and clothing labels, from the NHS to The Burma Campaign, Zulu Nation, Trojan Sound System, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s River Cottage, X Factor mentor Sinitta, The Journey (charity against human traffiking), QPR’s charity, Beardyman and Newton Faulkner.