huet Abertaffy (cardigan), is a craft-focused jeans manufacturer in Wales. They make a great product, which we’ll talk about in a bit. But their story It’s also one that reflects a lot about the classic, heritage-focused menswear movement that has developed over the last 20 years.
By the 1990s, Abertaffy’s factory was producing 35,000 pairs of jeans per week, with 400 employees. Their biggest client was Marks & Spencer and as you can imagine, the denim business dominated the city.
This all ended in 2002, when M&S moved production offshore. The factory had been trying for years to cut costs and become as efficient as possible – it wasn’t just workmanship – but ultimately the jeans couldn’t be made cheap enough.
In 2011, with an idealism (looking back on it) that was typical of the time, David and Claire Hiatt launched a new company to start production again. It was small, but they were able to re-employ many people and attract the attention of a world that was hungry for craft-based start-ups.
Hyatt developed a loyal following, and has had some notable viral moments as Meghan, Duchess of Sussex wore a pair of his jeans. But they remained a small operation occasionally trying out new ideas, and they ran into financial trouble during Covid, forcing them to ask customers for investment in 2024.
One of them, and eventually the absolute owners, was the von Loper family. Johann von Loepper now runs the company, and has begun work on professionalizing many of its elements – turning it into a full-fledged brand.
When you’re someone who appreciates small product-oriented manufacturers, it’s easy to be skeptical about the idea of professionalizing such an operation, but it makes a difference in a lot of ways that we don’t necessarily appreciate.
For example, the imagery on the website has improved dramatically, making the fit easier to understand. And the Fit was reevaluated overall, then launched as a single range rather than a one-off. On the women’s side, Johan had more than 50 customers try out different fits before refining and confirming them.
“In the past, women’s jeans were straight and close-fitting, which didn’t work for so many people,” says Johan. “We have worked on creating a range that is better suited to different body sizes.
“Overall, the brand was built in the image of David & Claire, which had a more philosophical approach to the business, more about the story than the product and style. We wanted to update the company to show that we could not only make high-quality jeans, but also do high-quality design.”
From my perspective, the biggest design problem they had – and a lot of small denim companies have these days – was washability.
When heritage and authenticity first became mainstream in the 2010s, the idea of buying raw selvage denim, which was uncomfortable and initially the wrong size, was okay because it meant a more personal, characterful product in the long run.
But now people have less patience for it, and the fashion has moved towards mid-blue and light-blue jeans, which take years to achieve if you start from scratch.
This is a problem for a craft manufacturer, because washing raw jeans to get a light blue color is a completely different type of production, requiring different machinery and skill sets. something, like Blackhorse Lane in LondonHas invested in its own machinery. Started working with Huet LaunderThose who have the expertise but wash in more sustainable ways in keeping with the Huet philosophy.
Huet recently launched its first washed jeans – called Light Blue summer wash selvedge – and are planning to introduce mid-blue in late July.
Denim washes involve a conscious design choice, and Huet chose a fairly plain version without strong fading and whiskering. This puts them closer to some mainstream brands and away from repro brands such as full calculationWhich leads to more extreme versions recreating old pairings.
“We wanted to go for a plain wash because we want customers to still get the fade on their jeans over time,” says Johan.
Much of the Huet range was also relaunched last year, with a particular focus on wide and high-rise fits: tailored tailoring styles, interestingly from their point of view.
Lucas and I tried out a few models, and he settled on the wide Gerald while i liked tapered benjamin.
I’ve been trying out wide leg jeans lately – like rubato lot 2 And Bryceland’s 133 -And Gerald was interested in trying it too, but it was a little too broad for me. However, Lucas, who is wider than me and generally wears wider fits, prefers Gerald. He had it made in ecru denim.
I found the Benjamin to be somewhere between Bryceland’s two models (133 and 133S) in terms of leg line, but a little straighter than that model across the thigh. There is some space in the thigh and seat I especially needAnd this Hiut model actually has more space than their previous offerings. The Hiut is the higher of the two in back rise, which I don’t particularly need, but I know some others would appreciate.
Huet is known for some colorful details on the jeans, such as the red fly button with the owl logo, and an unfinished red thread on the waistband that shows the last work done on the jeans by the manufacturer.
Personally I’m not such a fan of quirky details, but it’s possible to make jeans without them – and apparently customers are more likely to request special editions using other colors to put their personal stamp on them.
I took size 33/32, which is my regular size. lucas took 38/38Which is also the size he hopes to adopt, although looking back he says he could have gone for a 36 waist had he been a bit in between.
Along with the new mid-blue wash, Huyt (pronounced ‘high-ute’, by the way) is also launching a denim jacket and some cords in its existing cuts for autumn.
“The plan is not to expand too much, but to introduce some other interesting things that customers have been asking about over the years,” says Johan.
I really hope they implement it. It would be great if the next chapter of this story was about successfully handing Huet over to a new pair of hands that added something essential to the long-term survival of manufacturing here.
They have already received a good signal. “Right after Christmas, I got an email from this very non-descript address asking for my phone number,” says Johan. “To be honest, at first I wasn’t sure whether to give it or not, but I did, and 20 minutes later I got a call from the assistant secretary to Kate, Princess of Wales!”
It turns out Kate was on an event to visit and support British manufacturers, particularly textile manufacturers – something King Charles has always been amazing at.
“One of the best moments was when she met our head cutter Claudio, who is now 76 and has been cutting here since he was 16,” says Johan. “He’s in charge of training now – we have five apprentices at the moment – so hopefully he’s helping to create the future of denim here too.”
