For three decades, 10% of the population of the tiny Welsh town, Cardigan, made jeans.

35,000 pairs every week.

Then one day the factory died, and the jean artisans could no longer practice their art.

They simply had no way to do the thing they did well, until Hiut Denim was founded.

Now the company’s ‘Grand Masters’ make a handful of jeans each day. Each pair has a unique number, and a ‘History Tag’ that the owner can register on the website, to begin adding the memories associated with wearing their jeans.

Hiut are telling the story of a product built to last, and they are encouraging their customers to consume less by attaching meaning to the things that they love.

“We make jeans. That’s it. Nothing else. No distractions. Nothing to steal our focus. No kidding ourselves that we can be good at everything. No trying to conquer the whole world. We just do our best to conquer our bit of it. So each day we come in and make the best jeans we know how.”

Hiut didn’t just make an average product, then try sticking a marketing story on as an after thought. They made the story part of the product, and the story makes the product better.

Image by Don Shall.