Fashion, sustainable Report 44 / 2021-11 -02
Our minds can often get stuck in old ways of thinking. We often act and think as if we live in a time of scarcity when in reality we live in a time of excess. Repaired fashion often relates to scarcity in our minds. It’s a relic of the past where repairing clothing was seen as a sign of poverty. There was no money to buy new clothes, so you had to repair.
That mindset is gone now, when we live in a time of excess and pollution problems. The fashion industry is polluter #2 on the world stage mainly because we consume far too much. Reducing the production and consumption of new clothing is the most effective solution against the pollution of the fashion industry. And people are starting to realise this.
At the same time we know that a business man or woman showing up in a repaired item, for example a repaired moth hole, shouldn’t be considered not-done or be related to poverty. In these times of pollution it is appreciated to repair fashion in order to consume less. The social appreciation for contributing to an environmentally friendly society is huge. There is a shift in the mindset towards clothing repair, from not accepted to appreciated.
Repaired fashion is going to carry a high social prestige.
Flaunt the repairs on your fashion with obvious repairs. Iron-on pads in your sleeves, repair tape for tears in your clothing, or mismatched buttons to show you lost the original at one point.
Taking this into consideration we can create new product ranges.
Think further than today’s societal views and direct your creative process solely on the minds of our creative and forward thinking consumers. Think of ways to connect your company to these types of repair products, and contribute to a cleaner world. Find new product ranges to add to your business that will finally reduce production of new goods.
The Lady in Blu, founder of RE LOVE Foundation, has created Re-Pair Pads and concepts for Re-Pair Buttons in collaboration with Nynke Tynagel that communicate a positive message about repairing clothing. It’s their way to start the conversation about our thoughts on repairing fashion and turn something that was not socially accepted into an appreciated act.
