The hempen set is not at all comparable to the race starting gear. I don't personally care if the starting gear remains locked, to be honest, as it's the sort of thing you'd probably only run into growing up amoung the home communities of the races, where their original cultures are more concentrated. (The could be reason to, considering some roleplayers may be roegadyn raised by tradtional lalafell, or hyur brought up around a Xaela tribe for whatever reason.)

The hempen set should be unlocked, as it's got no real cultural significance to the races, and would believeably be the sort of craft introduced within the weaving guild as more peoples came to it and influenced styles. Considering it's just hempen gear, and pretty basic for that matter, you would think it'd be a lot more freely traded.

(As a side note, I would also like it to have the gender lock removed, because as a male cat player, I wouldn't have minded the option of a longer top like our female counterparts had for their hempen gear. But really, removing the race lock is a great start.)