The Princess of Wales visits Hiut Denim.

A day at the factory with Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales.

There are visits that are ceremonial and there are visits that feel like recognition in the truest sense. Today, Hiut was honoured by a visit from Her Royal Highness, The Princess of Wales. The reason was simple and profound. We were being recognised for something we have always said is at the heart of Hiut; a commitment to craft and to keeping the skills of British textiles and design alive.

The morning began with the usual last-minute preparations: tidying workbenches, checking samples, and making sure the factory was ready to show what we do best. Soon came the radio call from the police—Her Royal Highness’s convoy was approaching. In that moment, the factory, usually quiet and focused on making jeans, became a place to explain what Hiut stands for. I welcomed the Princess and introduced her to Hiut not as a brand, but as a team dedicated to keeping British denim manufacturing alive. Every jean we make reflects careful design, considered fabric choice, and skilled craftsmanship. 

From here, I wanted to show her exactly how those elements come together, starting with the design team and the creative process behind every new collection.They walked the Princess through how a new collection starts as an idea, then becomes a sketch, then a pattern and finally a prototype. We believe that creativity is not a moment of inspiration alone, it is a series of decisions about proportion and fabric and finish. And Princess Catherine chose the timing of her visit well as we are in the midst of designing a new collection of Men’s and Women’s Jeans. 

From there we moved to the cutting room. This is where the connection between person and product is most visible. The cutting team includes our longest serving employee, Claudio, who brings more than 60 years of experience, and our newest trainee, Marley, who started just one month ago. Claudio does not simply cut cloth. He passes on a way of seeing fabric, of understanding grain and yield, of knowing where the denim will wear and where it will hold. To me one of Hiut’s proudest roles and most important missions is the passing down of that craft from one generation to the next.

At Claudio’s bench the Princess tried her hand at cutting a pair of jeans. The pair was a test of our new women’s straight leg style which we are preparing to launch in April. The princess did an expert job under the supervision of Claudio and lucky for her, it passed quality control and will actually form a part of one of our Jeans. The Princess remarked what a joy it was to engage with the physical act of making as a reminder of why practical experience matters.

Straight after, we met trainees Phoebe, Rose and Alana. They spoke candidly about what it means to start a career in British textiles, about unexpected satisfactions and the challenges that come with learning a trade. The Princess was invited by the trainee’s to try out her hand at one of the sewing steps that they are currently learning, sewing the back pocket on a pair of men’s jeans. Elin, our Factory Manager, was with us throughout this step, keeping a watchful eye over her new trainee. She began her working life in this building at 16 and learned the same craft she now oversees. When the previous company left to produce overseas and Hiut was created to revive jeans making here, Elin was one of the first people we hired to make that revival real. She is the person who most embodies the purpose of what we do which is to make everyday life a little more beautiful through craftsmanship.

Perhaps the most moving part of the visit was a quieter moment. A small group of our Grandmasters were invited to have tea with the Princess. These are women who have spent decades shaping a local trade. They spoke about their start in the textiles industry and the importance of better access to training and apprenticeships and about how a lifetime of making should be valued and sustained. The Princess listened as equals which, in itself, felt like recognition.

Before she left we had one final surprise. The back pocket the Princess had sewn was carefully placed on a pair of our men’s “Hack” Jean behind the scenes and offered to her as a gift for her husband, the Prince of Wales. We also presented the first production pair of our new Mari style for her to wear. It seemed an appropriate way to mark a day in which the work of the many hands that made the jeans was acknowledged.

As the owner of Hiut, the day left me immensely proud. Proud of the team, proud of the idea that skills can be passed down, and glad that someone in a position to champion British textiles and fashion brands could see, up close, what we do and why it matters. The visit was a reminder that the way we make things shapes the world we live in.