The power of a story: eight years of Hiut Denim

“It was all about the town - that was the reason to start a jeans brand, that was the purpose, that was the wind in our sails.”

If you’ve been in the audience at one of my Power of Story keynotes, or come along to one of my storytelling workshops, you’ll have heard me tell the story of Hiut Denim.

It’s one of my favourite brand stories - how David and Clare Hieatt built their jeans brand upon a story. The story of how their town of Cardigan used to be home to a factory that made thousands of pairs of jeans a week. How one day that factory closed and hundreds of people lost their jobs. But all that jeans-making know-how remained in the town. And in 2012 David and Clare started Hiut Denim with a mission to get their town making jeans again.

Of course their jeans are some of the best on the market; the quality and attention to detail is superb. But when customers choose to buy a pair of Hiuts, they’re also buying into the story.

Because that is the power of a story.

This month Hiut Denim is eight years old. And back in 2012 when the brand was just two months old, I went to Cardigan to interview David for Monocle 24’s ‘The Entrepreneurs’.

So what was it like back at the beginning? I talk to David about how to stay intimate whilst growing, how to have ideas that mean something to customers, and the journey from idea to launch.