Even before she became an official member of the royal family,Meghan Marklewas using her style powers for good.
And no one felt it more thanHiut Denim Company, a boutique jeans brand from Wales that Meghanwore in January, subsequently catapulting the label into global stardom overnight.
“I think in any company’s life, you have defining moments — and that was definitely one of them,” Hiut cofounder David Hieatt tells PEOPLE. “The phone almost hasn’t stopped ringing since, it’s been incredible!”
“In the next four weeks, we are moving into a factory that’s three times the size and we’ve hired eight new people — theMeghan Markle Effectis real!” says Hieatt from the shop floor of his current factory in Cardigan, Wales.
Hiut Denim Company
With a three-month waiting list for the Dina and two months for most other styles, the company is working fast to fulfill the huge amount of orders that have been placed since January.
Karwai Tang/WireImage
“We must be one of the few jean companies in the world that have no jeans. We literally make them, ship them and our shelves are almost empty,” says Hieatt.“ For a small brand that spent all its marketing budget on a coffee machine, it’s quite a remarkable story!”
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“Meghan is picking companies with a purpose or a mission — or dare I say it, a soul,” says Hieatt. “We have the skills here, and that’s what we are fighting for.”
On whether Meghan is aware of the impact she has had, the jeans expert said he had written to her team of advisors who had responded positively: “I think they were very pleased,” he says. “It would be nice to meet her one day, and when we get 400 people back in business, she can come and meet them — she’s a town changer!”
For more on Meghan’s new life, check out this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
In between making more than 100 pairs of jeans a week, the busy Hieatt family found time to sit back and enjoy the recentroyal wedding, which was a hit with all the family, including their daughters. “The BBC mentioned Hiut and literally we were all bouncing up and down from sheer happiness!”
source: people.com
