Hailing from the misty moor of Cardigan, Wales, Hiut Denim Co has utilized every little bit of the town’s denim manufacturing heritage to drive their business forwards with the focussed goal of doing one thing exceptionally. As we touched upon when we first mentioned Hiut Denim on Heddels, David Hieatt recognized that there’s certain potential for denim making in a town of 4,000 people when 10% of them have a rooted history in denim craftsmanship and resurrected what had become a dead industry.

Part of what has driven Hiut forward in their first years of existence is the way they’ve strived to perfect their craft in the denim world, and only in the denim world. They’ve lived thus far by the motto of “do one thing well“ and it seems, from reactions we’ve seen, to be striving in the right direction. There’s a great deal of craftsmanship that goes into each one pair of Hiut denim, craftsmanship that makes each pair special and unique. The idea is that by having specifically trained craftspeople to do each step of the process, you’ll come up with the best possible jean.

It’s a great concept, and it comes off well, but it also does drive the price of their jeans high and makes the jeans unaccessible for a considerable proportion of the market. Of course, this is not a new problem, and not a problem that can be solved by many of these smaller factories.

Regardless of cost, Hiut does provide one of the best built jeans on the market today. To demonstrate the exceptional level of craft that justifies their pricing, a recently released factory tour from Cardigan gives an interesting insight into the workings behind each pair of Hiut denim.

Beyond the craftsmanship, a secondary piece of Hiut’s business model that gives them an edge over competitors is their introduction of what they refer to as a “History Tag” in each pair of jeans. A model number is placed on each jean that you can register on their website, then upload pictures of where the jean has been and what they’ve done, as well as documenting repairs, alterations or notable events. You can also see some photos taken when the jean was in production, giving the jean an interesting history and added touch of personalization.

A skeptic could say that anyone could create an album on their computer and take pictures of their jeans, but the idea that Hiut has created a place to do it and pushed it upon customers certainly has given them an edge and gold star in the creative thinking department.

However, we’re curious to hear your take. We think Hiut has come into a couple of interesting concepts, but what do you think? Do you prefer to see a brand focus on doing one thing well or do you have an appetite for more variety from the same brands? Do you like the idea of a history tag, and globally speaking, do you think this sort of brand can hold its own against the larger brands?

Let us know in the comments below.