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This is the factory floor of Hyatt Denim, a small company in the seaside town of Cardigan

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in West Wales.

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Whether they're cutting or stitching, everybody here shares the same goal – to produce a

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pair of simple but high-quality denim jeans.

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Can I describe our jeans? I mean, our jeans are a classic, you know, five-pocket western

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jean and our design philosophy is to keep things as simple as we can and we don't want

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to be high fashion because high fashion comes in and then it goes away and so we want to

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make a classic pair of jeans, we want to make, you know, one of the best jeans in the

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world and we want to keep it as classic and as simple as we can because, like, classic

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doesn't come in or go out of fashion, it just stays.

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The Hyatt Denim company was founded in 2002 by David and his wife Claire. Since then,

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it has become a cult fashion brand, selling to customers all over the world.

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The company has attracted the attention of the world's media, as well as some very

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famous celebrities.

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Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, even wore a pair of Hyatt Denim jeans on a royal

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visit to Wales – a major moment for the small but ambitious business.

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However, this is not the first time jeans have been manufactured in Cardigan. David

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and Claire started their company with a particular mission in mind.

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The reason we started it is to try and get 400 people their jobs back because, you know,

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for people out there to know the back story is, you know, this small town in West Wales

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used to have Britain's biggest jeans factory in it and it made 35,000 pairs of jeans a

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week. I mean, that's a big number, but it did it for 40 years. And then in 2002, the

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factory closed because the economics had changed and, you know, the factory gates closed. And

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so, and the question myself and Claire asked was, could we open those gates again and keep

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them open?

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Today, Hyatt operates from the old factory and employs many of its former workers. They

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call these lifelong jeanmakers their grandmasters, thanks to the skills and experience they bring

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to their craft.

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My name is Claudio Bellotti. I'm the Grandmaster in Cutting. Originally, I was born in Italy

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and then came over to this country when I was three years old and lived in this area

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ever since. It's something I've always done since the age of 15. I worked with Hyatt from

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the start. David and Claire approached me and asked me if I'd like to help them start

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up a jeans factory again. To see jeans being made in Cardigan again was something I never

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thought I'd see.

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And what does Claudio think makes a good pair of jeans?

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I think it's the love you put into it, and that's what it is. Unless you love doing what

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you're doing, then I think it's, don't get the reward for putting all that effort in.

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Hyatt is delighted to employ the former factory workers, but the company doesn't follow the

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original business model. Instead of the 35,000 pairs of jeans a week that the old factory

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manufactured, the Hyatt Jeans Company produces only around 180 pairs. This is because, after

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Claudio and his team have cut the denim, each pair of jeans is made by hand, crafted from

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start to finish by one person. This focus on quality rather than quantity, as well

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as the importance they place on environmental sustainability, sets them apart from many

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others in the clothing industry. So, how does Hyatt fit in today's world of fast fashion?

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I don't think it makes the human being feel very good because, oh, I've bought something,

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then I discard it. How do I feel? After a while, you don't think very much of either

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the environment or yourself. I think that ultimately messes with people, but also from

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an environmental point of view, how does that work for the environment? Actually, it doesn't.

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The biggest and best thing we can do for the environment is make something last as long as

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possible. Yes, we do free repairs for life, and that means that those jeans last more and more

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time, and that's good. I think we're as far away from fast fashion as I can possibly get.

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And if we could get even further, I would love it.

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The company also has a no-wash club to help lower the jeans' environmental impact,

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even after they've been sold.

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There's a reason for the no-wash club, and it's twofold. And one is to,

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you know, if you want to have a truly beautiful pair of jeans, then if you don't wash it for

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three weeks, five weeks, you know, a couple of months, all those creases that you put in there

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and those wrinkles, you know, when you wash it once, the dye goes out, and all those creases

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and that imprint of you as a human being is there, and it looks incredibly beautiful.

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The second part is, you know, 80% of the impact of a pair of jeans is by you and I washing it.

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So, like, getting people to not wash a pair of jeans for three months or six months has

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a huge impact in the world. And so the greenest jean is the one that you don't wash.

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Hyatt's reputation for quality and craftsmanship,

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together with caring for the planet, has been key in its success.

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And this success is something that David, Claire, and their whole team can be proud of.

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I'm proud of it. I love the fact we make one of the best pairs of jeans in the world,

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and that's good. And the grandmasters downstairs, they're proud of it. They even sign each pair.

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And there's a thing on the pocket that says, all artists sign their work.

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Because we must be one of the few companies in the world where they actually make it from start

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to finish. Like, I mean, the robots might be coming, but they're not coming to Cardigan anytime soon.