Pentagram's Hugh Miller rebrands Hiut, the Welsh denim label bringing jeans-making back to Aberteifi

There's a stubbornness at the heart of Hiut. The brand's new look finally does it justice. Pentagram partner Hugh Miller has designed the visual identity and art direction for the premium denim label, which crafts its jeans from a family-run factory in Aberteifi on the Welsh coast.

The town – also known as Cardigan – has denim in its bones. The first jeans factory in the 1960s employed more than 400 local people and produced over 35,000 pairs a week. Production moved offshore in 2002, taking the work, but not the know-how, with it. Decades of accumulated skill were simply left sitting there. Hiut was founded in 2011 to bring it back home, put those hands to work again, and train the next generation of makers.

This was never going to be a label that chased trends. Hiut takes its cue from factory life, the skill of its makers and the rugged landscape around it, so Miller's brief was less about reinvention and more about telling that story well. Working closely with the Hiut team, he built the identity around the brand's values, celebrating the factory, its people and its setting, while embracing the contrasts that define it.

The result balances industry with nature, and utility with craft. First, there's the redrawn wordmark that nods to the factory's industrial heritage, all craft and resilience, with "Aberteifi" added underneath to root the brand firmly in its location, history, and mother tongue. Alongside it is a bolder, rounder and altogether more huggable version of Hiut's much-loved owl mascot.

The easy move would have been to reach for navy and the usual heritage-brand polish. Instead, type does the heavy lifting. Hugh chose the functional, utilitarian Founders Grotesk to handle the day job. It's paired with 'The Makers Font', drawn from the real signatures its factory workers scribe into every pair of jeans.

The colour palette is inspired by the muted hues of the local landscape and the raw, functional character of the factory, layered through contrasting textures and tones.

Art direction does the rest. Jess Ellis on stills and Cat Garcia on motion were invited to capture moments of "everyday beauty" from both the surrounding landscape and the factory floor – shot in black and white and colour, leaning into texture and the unexpected details that reveal a brand's human character. From here, the launch campaign and ongoing art direction are led by Hiut's own teams and collaborators, working with photographers, illustrators, videographers, and printers whose approaches align with the brand.

It's a more elevated look for Hiut, without forgetting its roots. You can see more of the work on the Pentagram website, and find out more about the label at Hiut Denim.