Cardigan’s jeans makers keep their craft alive

Inside Cardigan’s old jeans factory, experienced makers are still cutting and sewing denim. Hiut now employs 20 people and produces about 120 pairs a week, keeping a local craft in use.

The town’s former factory employed 400 people before production moved abroad. Hiut, founded in 2011, brought some of that work back. Factory manager Elin Evans first learned her trade there as a teenager.

A new Guardian visit describes makers assembling jeans from 17 pieces and signing the pairs they finish. The company also repairs its own jeans, giving the same skills work beyond the first sale.

Its repair service is free for the life of eligible jeans, with a £10 UK shipping and handling charge. Only 70 standard repair places open each month, and some badly damaged pairs cannot be repaired.

This remains a small, premium business: new jeans start at £245, and its new owners inherited heavy losses.

Even so, Cardigan retains skilled work and a place where those skills can be passed on.

Sources

• The Guardian — reporting from Hiut’s Cardigan factory
• Hiut Denim — repair eligibility, charges and capacity