‘Do one thing well’ is the admirable tagline from Welsh denim company Hiut. All Hiut make is jeans. But they’re wonderful, wonderful jeans. They are all hand made in Cardigan, a small market town in Wales which was once home to the biggest jeans factory in Britain. At one stage it employed 400 people, but it closed down in 2001 – leaving a huge hole in the community and a lot of unemployed jean makers.

Enter David and Clare Hieatt, who first founded the ethical fashion brand Howies, who decided to open a factory again. In 2011, they started making jeans again in Cardigan employing people who Hiut call ‘the Grand Masters’.

“These are no ordinary jeans.”

These Grand Masters can only make around 100 pairs of jeans a week, but the quality and materials are among the best you’ll find anywhere. There are only a dozen or so styles along with some one-off versions, but among those is one that caught our eye: The Tech Jean.

This jean uses an amazing black fabric that is described as a ‘crimped polyester’ that is designed to flex and then go back into shape. This polyester is then wrapped ‘using a secret process with cotton’ to feel natural. In short, it’s a pair of jeans with great stretch, which looks and feels like a regular pair of jeans. The polyester component also makes them quick drying.