In the coastal town of Cardigan, west Wales, a small company is striving to revive a once-thriving denim manufacturing tradition. Hiut Denim, founded in 2011 by David and Clare Hieatt, produces high-end jeans that have found customers around the world, from London to San Francisco. Cardigan, with a population of just over 4,200, was once home to Britain’s largest jeans factory, Dewhirst, which supplied major retailers such as Marks & Spencer before production moved abroad in the early 2000s.
Hiut Denim’s mission is to restore denim-making skills locally while fostering a new generation of craftsmen. The company employs about 20 people who make roughly 120 pairs of jeans per week, a significant scale-down compared to Dewhirst’s peak output of 35,000 pairs weekly and a workforce of around 400. Each pair of Hiut jeans is handmade from 17 pieces of fabric and carries a “made in Wales” label alongside a signature from the craftsman who stitched it. The company also offers lifetime repair services.
Elin Evans, Hiut’s factory manager and one of the company’s so-called “grand masters,” has a lifelong background in denim manufacturing, including work at the original Dewhirst factory until operations moved overseas to Morocco. Evans returned to Cardigan and to the craft after Hiut’s founding, contributing decades of expertise to the brand’s focus on quality and tradition.
Hiut Denim has attracted a premium market, with jeans made from organic cotton sourced from Turkey and selvedge denim from Japan commanding prices that start at £245 and rise to £350. Notable customers include British television presenters Ant and Dec, and the brand received a significant boost in publicity when the Duchess of Sussex wore a pair during an official visit to Wales in 2018.
Despite such high-profile endorsements, Hiut experienced financial difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic and sought investment from key customers. This led to the involvement of the German von Loeper family, who became minority shareholders in late 2024 and subsequently acquired the company in September 2025. Johann von Loeper, 26, who left a finance career in London to serve as CEO, describes the takeover as a “passion project,” motivated by a personal enthusiasm for the product and a commitment to preserving manufacturing in Cardigan.
The von Loeper family has pledged to keep production in west Wales, highlighting both the challenges and importance of maintaining local craftsmanship. Since acquiring Hiut, they have invested in stock, including a large purchase of Japanese selvedge fabric to secure supply amid the closure of a key supplier’s order books until 2027. They are also updating the product range and aiming to expand staff numbers, mindful that the current group of skilled workers is approaching retirement and that training new employees will be essential to the company’s future.
Hiut is also pursuing broader market appeal, adding new retail partnerships such as London’s Liberty department store, and seeking to attract younger customers amid changing consumer habits. At the Cardigan factory and shop, customers like Paul Tomlin travel to find the right fit and support a brand committed to quality and ethical production. As the company looks ahead, it balances the heritage of Welsh denim manufacturing with strategies for sustainable growth in a competitive market.