Lawyers swap horsehair for hemp as they try out first vegan court wigs Business

The first batch of vegan court wigs are being tested after a lawyer sells 10 hemp headpieces to colleagues who usually wear horsehair ones.

Samuel March, a junior barrister at 9 King’s Bench Walk, said his ambition to upend the bar’s 200-year-old tradition of wearing horsehair wigs in court is now in the ‘testing phase’ as recipients head to the courtroom in her biodegradable. invention.

Mr March told the Telegraph he was checking the wigs could stand the test of time with a small number of lawyers before moving forward with a bigger launch.

He said: “Hemp is a notoriously tough material, so I don’t foresee any problems, but there is always a risk that you’re the first in the world to try something. Do them here [in the UK] at this scale and price means my market is largely limited to vegan avocados, which is a small market – but which I intend to continue to sell to.

He said he sold the first batch of wigs via social media and ‘word of mouth’, but was considering selling future batches via the UK’s leading legal women’s supplier, Ivy & Normanton. .

The Cambridge graduate first unveiled his plans for a biodegradable hemp wig on social media a year ago, when he posted on Twitter and Linkedin: “The prototype has arrived. This is the world’s first hemp avocado wig. 0pc horsehair, 100pc vegan friendly”.

At the time, he predicted the product would be in production by the end of the year and become standard in courtrooms within “a few years”.