Hiut Denim

[Crat]

Anyone heard about this welsh manufacturer or have any of their jeans? What I can See from their website looks good, though they aren't cheap and there's quite some competition out there.

Their story is nice to read though.

http://hiutdenim.co.uk/

"A slim fitting five pocket jeans made from raw selvedge 14oz denim. The pocket lining is made from super tough ecru twill. Subtle design detailing throughout. The back pocket is internally lined with twill for extra strength. The coin pocket is designed to fit an iPhone. The pocket edge seams are bound for a stronger and cleaner finish. It has copper rivets throughout. Plus one signature red ‘owl’ rivet on the back pocket. Button fly. Key stress points are bar-tacked for extra strength. The hems are chain stitched. 100% cotton."

Edited March 7, 2012 by Crat

[adrianghaust]

Really good looking pair from the pictures above and innovative shop site. Interested to see it worn by members here. Anyone purchased them?

[grooveholmes]

i'd been on their mailing list since last summer, and i thought for sure they'd be ready by the end of the year, but they kept pushing the release date on their yearbook further and further out. when they finally became available, i bit the bullet and violated a personal vow to resist new purchases in 2012. ordered the organic denim (non-selvedge) last week-- they're still in process.

[UkeNo]

Nice Find Crat!

Groove...Did you get one of the first 200 pairs?

The History tag sounds quite interesting - although thats what superdenim is used for by us lot anyway.

Still reading the site but quite intrigued.

Edited March 8, 2012 by UkeNo

[grooveholmes]

Uke- not sure - I put in for it the day after they went live. Ordered the slim organic, as I haven't owned a pair of "organic" denim jeans. Plus, It was about $100 cheaper than the Kuroki selvedge. I'm also intrigued by what appears to be the impetus behind the company: 1) Re-vitalizing a town that was known for 2) Doing "one thing well". It's a little hokey for my cynical mind, but there's still a heart somewhere in here *points to chest*. I'm curious to see how these turn out.

[UkeNo]

Interview with the Founder:

http://the189.com/feature/interview-with-david-hieatt-owner-and-founder-of-hiut-denim/

Some nice touches involved when you order your jeans.

I do like them in principle - just have to get my hands on a pair and see how they compare to Albam or APC etc. For that money though they're up there with Ande Whall etc etc.

Still I think it's the principle of their Business that people will be most in favour of?!

Worked on you already Groove - points to your Chest

Edited March 10, 2012 by UkeNo

[fre-co]

I'd buy some, it would be nice to support someone local. Next time in up there I might visit them. My dad lives about 20 miles away.

[cosmicflop]

Cool find, thanks for the heads up. Anyone know about sizing? Size up as usual for raw?

[M1stral]

Uke- not sure - I put in for it the day after they went live. Ordered the slim organic, as I haven't owned a pair of "organic" denim jeans. Plus, It was about $100 cheaper than the Kuroki selvedge. I'm also intrigued by what appears to be the impetus behind the company: 1) Re-vitalizing a town that was known for 2) Doing "one thing well". It's a little hokey for my cynical mind, but there's still a heart somewhere in here *points to chest*. I'm curious to see how these turn out.

Organic denim is harder to fade than non-organic denim, it seems.

Anyway, I like the look of the jeans. But I'm too spoiled with all the details Momotaro's offer, I'm always "missing" things on jeans after I wore these.

For instance, no hidden rivets. Not a big deal... But things like these and/or the wrong combination can be a dealbreaker for me. Same reason I sold my N&F Japan Heritage's. Fabric was superb, but the lack of details did make me not want to wear them.

[grooveholmes]

Too each his own, for sure. The details in a pair of PRPS jeans with black enameled hardware or a pair of bar-tacked back pocket Ande Whall jeans float my boat in equal ways. I don't care too much for bells and whistles. I usually prefer selvedge, but its not a deal-breaker for me. As long as they're a well-made pair of jeans and have a compelling story behind em, you can usually count me in.

[TheIntelligentHoodwinker]

Hiut were started by one of the guys who started Howies.

My initial thoughts are that they're far too expensive. £235 ($368) could get you a pair of pretty much anything in BiG - not sure i'd risk that kind of cash on something I had to preorder and couldn't even touch, let alone try on.

Interested to see what a pair looks like in the flesh though.

[Maynard Friedman]

The price puts me off too, I'm excited to see quality British made jeans, but they come at a fairly hefty premium.

[Crat]

Exactly, especially compared to Albams at 1/3 of the price for instance.

[grooveholmes]

Nice little interview with Free/Man. A bit skeptical about how he will change the denim industry, but sounds like they're at least carving out their own little niche with a great story.

http://www.freemanbrand.com/conversations/a-conversation-with-david-hiut-denim.html

[grooveholmes]

will get proper fit pics soon. i finally received these last week. my only gripe was that i placed the order in march (was one of the first 200, apparently) and they shipped it on the 4/10-- it arrived on the 23rd. however, they did include a free copy of the yearbook, which was a pleasant surprise. but it was well worth the wait.

package came wrapped in paper printed with pattern and design elements.

The brand is off-center. No big. Wabi sabi (what a cliche)...

Half-lined back-pockets

I ordered the organic denim in the slim cut. The fabric is very smooth and soft to the touch- it reminds me of some Chimala denim I picked up some time ago. The back pocket shape is on the slim and narrow-side-- more akin to Nudies. The construction is solid-- I am quite impressed with the skill and precision with which these were made. Elin is Elin Evans, referred to as one of the "grandmasters" on the website. Apparently, there are 4 people involved in the making of these jeans with a goal of producing 10 pairs a day. The yearbook is a very nice compilation of images, thoughts and ideas which extend to representing other businesses that Hiut admires for their passion and commitment to doing "one thing well". Nothing new to denim nerds and admirers of the very small percentage of great denim companies represented here on sufu, but it fits the company's vision well-- the concept of a community of craftsmen and women with the ability to innovate. Overall, I'm quite impressed, and will give these a go once the Ande Whall contest ends later this year. As stated, fit pics soon.

Edited May 3, 2012 by grooveholmes

[Danny @ Rivet & Hide]

Can't wait to see how these fit. Which size did you order?

[tdj]

is there any indicator on it that it's one for the first 200?

[shinobi2000]

color looks great but i wish they had measurements

[grooveholmes]

i am 49/200. it is ink stamped on the inner waistband. i believe the leather patch is also hand-branded, which was only done on the first 200. the branding doesn't look nearly as good as the promo pics... oh well. i ordered the 33/32 organic 12oz (non-selvedge) slim, thinking if they were true to size, then i'd have some room to work and stretch these out. they were not tts. however, right off the bat, these fit pretty good. the waistband is lined, so this may actually account for the waist being a hair closer to 34. they also gave me much more on the inseam. instead of 32, these measure out to 34 in. i don't mind having the extra fabric, so for now, it's a quad cuff. also, note the side loops-- they are quite slanted. the promo pics show this, though up close, they are more surprisingly at a tilt than one might suspect. i'm not sure how i feel about them yet, but by no means is it a dealbreaker. these are fantastic jeans.

measurements

waist: 34.5

inseam: 34

front rise: 9.75

back rise: 15.25

upper thigh: 11.5

knee: 8.75

hem: 7.75

Edited May 3, 2012 by grooveholmes

[UkeNo]

Nice Update Groove - I'm still tempted by these in the slim (maybe selvage).

Let us know how they break in.

[shinobi2000]

those look fine but i'm surprised that's considered a slim fit. I'm sure the slanted belt loops can be easily straightened out right? I have one of those old Howies. I see the back pockets are similarly placed very low as well here.

[grooveholmes]

not sure why you're surprised re: the slim fit... it's always been a relative term. some consider "slim" to mean "nut-huggers", or at least that's my interpretation, but i'm generally a regular fit kind of guy. compared to my 660s these have trimmer measurements all around. it shouldn't surprise us that the hiut slim is relative to the regular fit. same with any other brand. as i am not particularly tall, i suspect you don't really get to see the slim silhouette of the jeans all the way down through the legs. short and/or stocky people have it rough.

i'm trying to find adequate comparisons to the cut. i'd say they're similar to the triple works future indigo slim tapered cut.

belt loops are fine, really. i can deal. i'll get some more detail pics up at some point, but the precision, care, and skill is evident in every stitch. not quite ande or roy territory, but those are nerds taking construction to the next, geeked-out level. this is just solid, quality construction with some nice little touches. david really picked a winner with ms. evans running the show.

[PeterParker]

Something about the yoke and the back pocket placement looks odd. Perhaps it is the long shape of the pockets, but they appear to be really low. It would bug me sitting on my wallet with it under my thigh instead of my ass.

I, for one, have been spoiled by so many of the Japanese denim brands and their keen attention to detail. It's only when I see jeans that aren't made to the same reproduction precision that I appreciate all the work that goes into making a pair of jeans.

That being said, it is refreshing to see new brands mixing things up and putting on their own signature details. Thanks for telling us more about the brand, and hopefully we'll see some evolution photos soon.

Edited May 3, 2012 by PeterParker

[Maynard Friedman]

They appear to have a shallower (not smaller), squarer yoke rather than the deeper, v-shaped yoke found on many repro jeans. This is a feature of more modern cuts I believe.

Good, recent article on Hiut, although I'm not sure how their expansion dream will be fulfilled at the current pricing levels:

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/tmg9161337/hiut-denim-co-the-jeans-with-the-app-that-tells-their-history.html

This does raise the point that the staff employed by Hiut, although having vast experience, are not from a small artisanal denim background but one of mass produced bog-standard, high street jeans. Now, however they are making expensive, high-end artisanal jeans. Not sure if this is entirely relevant, but thought it worth mentioning.

Edited May 3, 2012 by Maynard Friedman

[grooveholmes]

Great observation, mf. but then, i suppose the response is in the article itself-- "levi's started small too". i don't know when the switch to "artisanal" occurred in jeans making, but they are certainly no ooe or dbl volante. I guess" artisanal" is a pretty subjective term as well. I think Hiut may be a few years too late on the denim trend. But "made in britain" is appealing to me-- maybe there's a chance. The hieatts did run a successful business, so theres a track record there.

the cost of the selvedge denim is steep for sure; but for the price of $210, the organic is right there with the likes of tellason, 3sixteen, and the like. not a bad price point, and for a good cause, imo.

[TheIntelligentHoodwinker]

i don't know when the switch to "artisanal" occurred in jeans making, but they are certainly no ooe or dbl volante. I guess" artisanal" is a pretty subjective term as well. I think Hiut may be a few years too late on the denim trend.

"Artisanal" is a word that just gets thrown about these days - it's becoming pretty meaningless. Beer, bread, f**king jam - everything has a version "crafted by and artisan".

Also agree that they're too late onto this trend. Uniqlo have the lower end of the market tied up, Albam and APC for those who want to fork out a bit more, and the brands that were once unavailable in the UK, or prohibitively expensive, are now more accessible - Flathead, SDA, Momotaro etc, or just buy online.

[okisan]

artisanal gets thrown around alot in the uk and it's become pretty meaningless. you can go to a street market and the guy that has a stall selling bread is an artisan, or the stall that sells homemade cupcakes & treats - you guessed it, they're artisans too.

[Danny @ Rivet & Hide]

I agree that "artisanal" is subjective, an artisan being a "skilled worker", but Hiut's selvedge denim is from the Kuroki mill. One of Japan's most respected. Their construction is solid too.

Edited September 4, 2012 by Danny @ Rivet & Hide

[Danny @ Rivet & Hide]

After weeks stuck at my desk I had a meeting today at Kaffeine to discuss the launch party. It's an hour and a half walk through Hyde Park hence the footwear but I needed the fresh air. Hiut slim Selvedge (& Flat Head Jacquard hoodie) . This Kuroki denim is such a beautiful rich blue it is hard to capture on camera.

[Danny @ Rivet & Hide]

Some progress on my Hiuts. About 5 months. I love this Kuroki selvedge at every stage of its progress.

They come chain stitched but we hemmed them on our Union Special 43200g and the roping is pretty insane.