Hiut shifts to made-to-order model
Hot on the heels of its BBC Inside the Factory television debut on January 9, Welsh jeansmaker Hiut has announced plans to pivot to made-to-order production.
“If we want less waste, we will have to stop guessing,” co-founder David Hieatt commented in a LinkedIn post. “Hope is not a precise sales forecast tool.”
He said he had taken the decision following a conversation with Candiani managing director, Alberto Candiani, who had shared that “almost a third of all clothes made are burned or buried because no-one wanted them”. Mr Candiani appears in the programme alongside the Italian mill’s sustainability director, Simon Giuliani.
According to the company’swebsite, the Hiut factory currently has just over 240 made-to-order time slots left for the month of February. Prices start at around $275 (£215) for a single pair, typically made from either Japanese selvedge, hemp-cotton fabric blends or organic cotton denims. Each is signed by the individual “grand master” who made them.
Hiut’s grand masters can make 200 pairs of jeans per week, it says.
Red line selvedge denims by Hiut. Image courtesy.
