9th Sep: NEW Striped Tabi socks release
They’re here.
After months of talking about hemp, writing about hemp, and telling anyone who would listen that it was Japan’s original sock fibre — the hemp tabis are finally on the site.
The first drop of hand-numbered pairs and a few sizes had sold out within days. Thank you, genuinely, to everyone who took a chance on a sock made from a fibre most people have never worn.
What’s launched
Four options, two lengths, two colours.
Hemp Quarter Tabi — £18. Sitting just above the ankle. The everyday length: trainers, loafers, slip-ons, or just padding around the house. Available in Natural and Black. The natural colourway is completely undyed.
Hemp Mid-Calf Tabi — £22. The tallest cut in the range. Sits partway up the calf, which means real warmth and a much cleaner line tucked into jeans, boots or tailoring. This is the autumn and winter one. Available in Natural and Black.
Every pair is:
· 49% hemp, 40% cotton, 10% polyester, 1% elastane
· Knit in Japan by Sugiyama Knit, a family run Tabi heritage factory.
· Available in 23–25cm, 25–27cm and 28–30cm
· Wide-foot friendly, with a roomy non-binding fit that doesn’t dig in at the ankle
· Naturally antibacterial and temperature-regulating
· Softer with every single wash
You can see the whole range together in the Premium Hemp collection.
Who makes them
This is the part I’m proudest of.
Our hemp tabis are knit in Japan by Sugiyama Knit — a family-run maker that specialises in tabi. Not a factory that also does tabi. A tabi specialist who care about ethics, values and intention.
That distinction matters more than it sounds. A split-toe sock is harder to knit well than a conventional one. The division has to sit in exactly the right place for the foot, the transition has to be smooth enough that you never feel it, and the whole thing has to hold its shape through the split. Getting that right takes a maker who has done it thousands of times.
Sugiyama Knit have. You can feel it the moment you put a pair on.
Why hemp
The short version: hemp is Japan’s original sock fibre. For over a thousand years before cotton arrived, hemp — 麻, asa — clothed the country. From everyday garments, Imperial robes, and the sacred shimenawa ropes at Shinto shrines were all hemp first.
So a hemp tabi isn’t a new eco-product with a Japanese flourish added on. It’s the oldest possible version of this sock. We’ve gone backwards, not forwards.
It is so brilliant on the foot. Hemp is naturally antibacterial, so it resists odour without any chemical treatment. It’s breathable and temperature-regulating, which means it works in September and it works in January. It’s one of the strongest natural fibres there are — roughly three times the tensile strength of cotton. It also softens continuously for as long as you own it.
If you want the full story — the 10,000 years of it, the reason hemp nearly disappeared from Western textiles, and the sustainability case — our deep dive on hemp, the underrated fibre, covers all of it.
Why it’s a blend, not 100% hemp
Pure hemp makes a beautiful cloth and a difficult sock. It has very little natural stretch, so a 100% hemp sock would have no recovery — it would stretch out on the first wear and stay there.
The blend is a design decision, not a dilution. Hemp at 49% gives you the durability, the breathability and the antibacterial performance. Cotton at 40% brings softness from the first wear. The small amount of polyester adds abrasion resistance where the sock works hardest. And that 1% elastane is what makes it come back to shape, wash after wash, for years.
We wrote all about this in the following article: the best socks are almost always blends. It’s how a natural fibre survives real life. Our materials guide goes through every fibre we work with, and where each one earns its place.
What to expect from your first pair
If you’ve never worn hemp, a few honest notes.
The first wear feels firmer than cotton. That’s the fibre, and it’s meant to.
Hemp is long, dense and strong, and it takes a little time to relax into the shape of your foot.
By about the tenth wear, you’ll notice the difference. By the fiftieth, you’ll wonder what you were worried about.
Hemp is one of the only fibres that genuinely improves the longer you own it — most textiles are at their best on day one and decline from there. Hemp goes the other way.
The natural colourway ages beautifully too. Undyed hemp deepens slightly with wear rather than fading flat.
Give them a fortnight. They’ll become the pair you reach for first!
How to wear them
The quarter length is your everyday sock. It works with trainers, loafers, clogs and slip-ons, and it sits nicely just above a low shoe line without disappearing.
The mid-calf is built for the season we’re heading into. Tucked into boots, worn with turned-up jeans, or under tailoring where a sliver of natural hemp against dark trousers looks quietly excellent. It’s also the cosiest thing in the range for evenings at home.
Natural goes with everything and looks especially good against dark denim and black leather. Black is the one that disappears into an outfit and just does its job.
And because they’re tabi, they work with thong sandals/ flip-flops too — which, yes, still applies in a British September more often than you’d think. New to tabi entirely? Start with our beginner’s guide to buying tabi socks in the UK.
Looking after them
Hemp is genuinely low-maintenance. Cool wash at 30°C, inside out, gentle detergent, air dry. No tumble dryer and no fabric softener — softener coats the fibre and strips exactly the natural antibacterial performance you bought them for.
That’s it. Hemp handles washing better than almost anything else in your drawer, and every cycle makes them softer.
Our full guide to making your socks last longer has the detail if you want it.
A note on the date
The stock was ready looong before September. I could have put these on the site in August and got on with it.
I waited for the 5th September. It would have been my dad’s birthday, and it's been since May 2025 when he passed.
He is my hero and greatest inspiration. He had such a finesse for finance, world events and all things that were difficult and complicated to talk about, he was able to simplify and articulate everything into simplicity. Nothing ever seemed like a problem. He never got the chance to see my start my Tabi socks brand Tabi Co. and I just know he would be so proud of me seeing what I've built today, because he was an entrepreneur too and I never thought I could 'successfully' start something on my own accord like he did.
There’s no clever business reason for the date. It just felt right that something I’d worked on this long, and cared about this much, should begin on his day rather than any other. It's an ode to me Dad, and a showing of my deep gratitude and deepest respect towards him.
So if you end up with a pair of these: they started on a good day.
Right. Back to the socks!
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy hemp socks in the UK? Here. Our hemp tabis are available now in quarter length (£18) and mid-calf (£22), each in natural and black, with UK delivery.
Are hemp socks scratchy? The first wear feels firmer than cotton, which is normal for hemp. They soften with every wash — noticeably by around the tenth wear, and considerably beyond that. Ours are blended with 40% cotton specifically so they’re comfortable from day one.
What are the hemp tabi socks made of? 49% hemp, 40% cotton, 10% polyester and 1% elastane. The hemp brings durability, breathability and natural antibacterial performance; the cotton brings immediate softness; the polyester and elastane give the sock its strength and its recovery.
Who makes your hemp tabi socks? They’re knit in Japan by Sugiyama Knit, a family-run maker specialising in tabi. Split-toe socks are harder to knit well than conventional ones, so working with a specialist matters.
What size hemp tabi socks should I order? They come in 23–25cm, 25–27cm and 28–30cm, measured by foot length. The fit is deliberately roomy and wide-foot friendly, with a non-binding cuff.
How do I wash hemp socks? Cool wash at 30°C, inside out, air dry. No tumble dryer, no fabric softener. Hemp is one of the most wash-tolerant fibres there is and softens every time. Full detail in our sock care guide.
Are hemp socks sustainable? Hemp is one of the most sustainable textile fibres in existence — it grows in about four months, needs no pesticides, uses roughly half the water of cotton, improves the soil it grows in and captures significant carbon. And because hemp socks last so long, they replace several cheaper pairs. The full sustainability case is here.
Is hemp the same as cannabis? No. Industrial hemp is a different variety of the same plant species, grown for fibre, containing almost no THC. It’s grown legally in the UK and there is no version of it that could intoxicate anyone.
A thousand years in the making
Hemp clothed Japan for a millennium. Then it was forgotten almost everywhere, for reasons that had nothing to do with the fibre itself.
Bringing it back as a tabi — the sock it was originally worn as — is the thing I’ve most wanted to do since starting Tabi Co.
It’s done. They’re here. And I hope they last you years.
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