Fixing instead of ditching is a growing trend in fashion, with clothes producers and stores getting on board.
ADVERTISEMENTIf you think a ripped seam or a broken zip signals the end of the road for your clothes, it’s time to think again.
In France, those who take items to be mended instead of throwing them away will be able to claim back some of the cost.
Fixing instead of ditching is a growing trend in fashion, with clothes producers and stores getting on board.
Here’s how to revive your old wardrobe and help the environment by cutting waste.
France will pay you to have clothes repaired
If you live in France, you can take advantage of the government’s ‘repair bonus’ next time you choose to have garments mended rather than throwing them away.
Around 700,000 tonnes of clothing is discarded each year in the country.
To help fight waste, France has launched a scheme that will allow people to claim back between €6 and €25 of the cost of mending clothes and shoes at affiliated workshops and cobblers.
The initiative will launch in October and will be run by the eco-organisation Refashion, which encourages repairing and reusing clothes as well as donating unwanted items.
The repair bonus is part of a broader drive in France to reform the heavily polluting textile industry. Clothing and textile stores now have to specify the material used and where an item was manufactured on labels.
Clothing repair studios launch in London
If you’re based in the British capital, then you can take old clothes to be mended at repair studios established by clothing brand Uniqlo.
Two Re.Uniqlo Studios, one in Regent’s Street and one in Battersea Power Station, offer mending and alteration services for garments from the brand.
The stores also collect unwanted clothes and donate them to those in need.
Net-a-porter has also launched a repair service in collaboration with The Seam, a specialist garment repair company. Customers in the UK can send off clothing, jewellery and accessories for mending.
Get your sports gear repaired in Belgium
If you live in Belgium, there is no need to chuck broken sports clothes or gear. Decathlon, the largest sporting goods retailer in the world, now offers a repair service.
The service is mainly for minor mending like torn seams or broken zips and they can repair clothes, backpacks and camping gear.
You can bring sports items from any brand to be repaired, not just Decathlon products.
Australian outdoor brand to upsell returned goods
Australian fashion brand Kathmandu, known for its colourful puffer jackets, is set to launch a scheme to repair and resell returned or faulty garments.
The Australian Circular Fashion Association estimates that just under a third of all online clothes purchases in the country are returned. Most companies are ill-prepared for dealing with this and consequently, many returned items are damaged and end up in landfill sites.
ADVERTISEMENTKathmandu aims to eventually be able to repair and resell all returned garments at reasonable prices.
