Yorkshire trouser company finds new market with selvedge denim jeans and wearable blankets

On Yorkshire Day, the founders of Mytholmroyd trouser brand HebTroCo talk to Stephanie Smith about the surprise benefits of a creative rethink during lockdown. With photography by Alex De Palma.
Hebtroco co-founders Brant Richards, left, and Ed Oxley, at Hell Hole Rocks, near Heptonstall, with Stoodley Pike in the background. Both wear Action blankets, £95, and selvedge denim jeans, £150. Picture by Alex De Palma.Hebtroco co-founders Brant Richards, left, and Ed Oxley, at Hell Hole Rocks, near Heptonstall, with Stoodley Pike in the background. Both wear Action blankets, £95, and selvedge denim jeans, £150. Picture by Alex De Palma.
Hebtroco co-founders Brant Richards, left, and Ed Oxley, at Hell Hole Rocks, near Heptonstall, with Stoodley Pike in the background. Both wear Action blankets, £95, and selvedge denim jeans, £150. Picture by Alex De Palma.

Simple, useful and it looks pretty good, too. If necessity is the mother of invention, the proof can be found in the Action blanket, created during lockdown by a West Yorkshire trouser company.

It’s basically a Yorkshire tweed blanket with a slit to slip over the head and wear like a poncho. But it has found multiple uses during lockdown, say HebTroCo co-founders Brant Richards and Ed Oxley.

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“Instead of putting the heating on, homeworkers, get your Action blanket,” says Brant. “Finished your wild swimming? Get changed under it. Barbecues, camping... it’s a product that even we didn’t know that everybody needed.”

Hebtroco co-founders Ed Oxley at the studio and warehouse HQ near Mytholmroyd wearing HebCoTro jeans, £150. Picture by Alex De Palma.Hebtroco co-founders Ed Oxley at the studio and warehouse HQ near Mytholmroyd wearing HebCoTro jeans, £150. Picture by Alex De Palma.
Hebtroco co-founders Ed Oxley at the studio and warehouse HQ near Mytholmroyd wearing HebCoTro jeans, £150. Picture by Alex De Palma.

Ed says: “British summertime needs a cape that you can wear over whatever you’ve got on.”

Brant adds: “And the brilliant thing with it is, a bloke will buy it and then his partner will steal it so he has to buy another one.”

“And then his mum wants one,” says Ed. “It’s been totally transformative for us in the last couple of months.”

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Lockdown meant that the British factories that make HebTroCo’s jeans were either making PPE or were closed, leaving Ed and Brant pondering what to sell. “So, the Action blanket,” says Ed. “I’ve had one of these since 1986.”

Hebtroco co-founders Ed Oxley, left, and Brant Richards, with their electric cargo delivery bike. Denim shirt, £135, and yellow overshirt, £175; selvedge jeans, £150.  Picture by Alex De Palma.Hebtroco co-founders Ed Oxley, left, and Brant Richards, with their electric cargo delivery bike. Denim shirt, £135, and yellow overshirt, £175; selvedge jeans, £150.  Picture by Alex De Palma.
Hebtroco co-founders Ed Oxley, left, and Brant Richards, with their electric cargo delivery bike. Denim shirt, £135, and yellow overshirt, £175; selvedge jeans, £150. Picture by Alex De Palma.

They bicker about whose idea it was to sell them, but whoever it was, it is brilliantly simple. From their studio and warehouse at Cragg Vale, in Mytholmroyd, they buy in Yorkshire tweed blankets, already woven in Huddersfield, and then local seamstresses put in a slit opening and finish it with polycotton tape binding.

Originally from Bingley, Brant lives in Hebden Bridge with his three children and his partner. Ed, who grew up in Sheffield, lives near Bradford. The pair met 15 years ago on a mountain bike ride around Hebden Bridge when Ed, who has a degree in drama, was a massage therapist and didgeridoo instructor (yes, really), and Brant, who has a degree in engineering, was a bike designer. Brant says: “Our mate Dan brewed a beer called ‘Trouser Town’ and we didn’t know why.” So they learned all about Hebden Bridge’s history of weaving and making clothing, particularly trousers. An idea began to form. They designed trousers in moleskin and approached the remaining trouser factory in Hebden to produce them. HebTroCo launched on crowdfunding website Kickstarter in 2016 and sold its first batch of 176 pairs within five hours. Ed and Brant quit their jobs and sold 2,000 pairs in their first year. The jeans are now made in Blackburn, with denim from the Candiani mill in Italy. Boots are made in Derbyshire, socks in Bradford, other products in East Anglia and London.

Their customers, they say, are “anyone with at least £100 and at least one leg”, but the main market is men their own age (45-55 age bracket). Brant says: “A lot are guys that have never been that interested in fashion, who probably don’t like going into shops where they feel a bit awkward but they want something that’s decent. They really like the fact that it’s British manufactured.”

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Most customers are in Britain but also in the US, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan and Scandinavia. The jeans cost £125-£150 a pair, which has led to “how much?” comments on social media, but Ed and Brant are not afraid to fight back. “People attack us and Brant converts it into really great Facebook posts,” says Ed. “A lot of the customers love to see the road ragers getting their comeuppance.”

Hebtroco co-founders Ed Oxley, left, and Brant Richards at the studio and warehouse HQ near Mytholmroyd. Denim shirt, £135, and yellow overshirt, £175; selvedge jeans, £150.  Picture by Alex De Palma.Hebtroco co-founders Ed Oxley, left, and Brant Richards at the studio and warehouse HQ near Mytholmroyd. Denim shirt, £135, and yellow overshirt, £175; selvedge jeans, £150.  Picture by Alex De Palma.
Hebtroco co-founders Ed Oxley, left, and Brant Richards at the studio and warehouse HQ near Mytholmroyd. Denim shirt, £135, and yellow overshirt, £175; selvedge jeans, £150. Picture by Alex De Palma.

They will soon expand their trouser ranges to three fits – slim, tapered and straight leg. The studio is where they come up with design ideas to take to their pattern cutters. Ed says: “I sit on a beer barrel and Brant sits on a fake Eames chair. We wear all the stuff and for me that’s the only way to know that it’s any good. You’ve got to be able to dance in it all night, ride motorcycles, fix stuff, walk the dog, get really dirty, cycle, spend time in the pub. Stuff that makes you look better than you are – that’s the aim.”

This tough, utility clothing range now includes overshirts, knitted hats, a printed cotton biker scarf with a design by artist Drew Millward, and a new range of sunglasses – all British made. They make around 5,000 pairs of trousers a year now.

The orders are packed at the studio and delivered to the Post Office at Hebden Bridge on one of their two electric cargo bikes, which can carry up to 100kg. Being online only means they have been able to concentrate on product development and global delivery. Brant says: “I love being able to control the customer experience, and it’s just me and him. We pack the orders, we do all the emails, we design the products, we do the modelling. We like it. We work fairly hard but we can still knock off by three, go for a drink, go for a run, go ride our motorbikes, and we’re able to do all that and still keep control of the business.

“The recommendations – ‘you need to be in Harrods, you need to export to China’ – well, no, we don’t because people can come and find us.”

Visit Hebtro.co

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