High Cotton Ties is bringing a “true southern accent” back to Raleigh with the help of one of North Carolina’s most renowned and historic products — cotton.

Judy Hill, owner and founder of High Cotton Ties, was born and bred in Raleigh and is no stranger to the textile talent tucked away in the capital.

“I grew up in Raleigh, so by nature I’m a Wolfpack girl,” Hill said. “My father was an N.C. State research scientist for soil science. I went to N.C. State myself, cleaning beakers in my dad’s lab. It was because I grew up around all of the professors at State that I was very familiar with the textile industry.

Hill’s company features 100 percent homegrown-cotton bowties along with a number of other accessories, all of which are handmade in North Carolina.

“I’ve always wanted to start a business that would benefit North Carolina,” Hill said. “So when I came back to North Carolina five years ago after living in Washington, D.C., I started thinking about what I could do to benefit my state.”

Hill attributes the idea for High Cotton to her oldest son, Cameron, who was in medical school at the University of Virginia when the plans were hatched.

“He always wore bowties so I figured I’d make him three for Christmas,” Hill said. “I had made my own pattern and when I went to go get fabric they didn’t have any silk so I got cotton instead.”

Other doctors often stopped Cameron when he wore the bowties, but their reactions weren’t as expected.

“They told Cameron he wasn’t supposed to be wearing bowties,” Hill said. “There had been a study showing doctors were carrying germs from patient to patient on their neckties. Cameron explained to them that his bowties were cotton and washable because that’s the way I had made them.”

That’s when Hill’s idea took off.

“When we found out that this had been an issue we realized that we had stumbled upon something,” Hill said.

With people grabbing the ties out of her hand at Starbucks when trying to show friends, Hill understood that a washable bowtie was something that hadn’t been seen previously.

“I had a son, James, at Chapel Hill, he was the president of his fraternity,” Hill said. “I took at least 100 ties and I got eight of the boys, sitting them all on this fraternity bench in the bowties for a photo shoot. People walking by would try to stop and buy ties off of the hanger I had with me.By the end of the day we had sold almost all of the ties we had with us. It was a phenomenon; no one had ever seen a cotton bowtie before.”

Realizing the product could come solely from the Carolinas, Hill saw this as her opportunity to give back to the state.

“From the start we’ve had an unwavering mission to be a true southern company, making all of our products here,” Hill said. “It was our mission from the start to employ our neighbors as much as possible.”

Alex Peden, a 2012 graduate of N.C. State’s College of Art and Design and a recent hire of High Cotton, explained their passion for employing their neighbors.

“One of their main ideas for coming to Raleigh was to pull from the talent at N.C. State and UNC-Chapel Hill,” Peden said.

“We’ve gone a step further,” Hill said. “We’ve made a commitment not only to North Carolina, but to my hometown of Raleigh; we’re investing here.”

With 150 stores carrying their products, High Cotton is sold all the way from Maine to Texas. It will be in Raleigh, though, that they first open a retail store all their own.

“We’ll be able to show our story to folks in hopes that they’ll understand what we’re doing,” Hill said.

Elizabeth Hardy, a 2008 graduate of N.C. State’s College of Textiles and a recent hire of High Cotton, has lent a helping hand in their recent growth.

“I’m helping with fabric sourcing and developing,” Hardy said. “Two weeks ago I went with Judy [Hill] to pick out the fabric for our new spring collection. I get to use what I’ve learned in New York, where I was for four years after graduating, but here in Raleigh with High Cotton. It’s the perfect combination.”

Being one of the two College of Design graduates working at High Cotton, Peden credits a majority of his hire to the College of Design.

“I credit my getting this job to the College of Design and my professors there,” Peden said. “There are two people, Kathleen Rieder, assistant professor of Art and Design, and Chandra Cox, head of the department of Art and Design. … They’re the reason I have this job. They set me up for success big time.”

According to Hill, it’s this recipe of Hardy, Peden and the homegrown culture of the business that has set High Cotton up for success.

“It’s because of the culture, our products are made by people in the south,” Hill said. “We go so far as to use cotton from North Carolina for all of our products. We try not just to make them here but to pick the cotton for most of our products here too.”

In the end, according to Hardy, the locality and natural angle High Cotton takes is what makes them and their product so different.

“There’s so much product out there,” Hardy said. “Coming from New York I’ve seen how a lot of companies throw food at the wall and see what sticks. They run out of time and they’re trying to please all of their retailers … the product suffers. With the way High Cotton makes every piece, we’re not going to make that same mistake.”

High Cotton Ties will have their grand opening with First Friday on March 1 at 19 West Hargett St.