Fashion didn’t used to be fast. Before the rise of giants like like Zara and H&M in the 80s and 90s, we had a deeper connection with the items we purchased.
Clothing was dictated by seasons, so collections would be shown months in advance, and customers would buy for delivery a few months later. The materials were higher quality, designed to be durable, and no one expected new lines out every few weeks. Take Levi’s jeans – sturdy, functional denim that would be with you for life, or a Burberry trench coat, tailored to fit and made to last.
Before mass production, we focused on quality and craftsmanship, rather than novelty and disposability.
It’s a sharp contrast to the rapid turnover of today’s market, where items are worn only a handful of times. As a result, the industry produces 97 million tonnes of waste every year and, given the majority of clothing is produced from synthetic, oil-derived materials like polyester, it’s literally polluting our environment – and takes hundreds of years to degrade.
The dawn of fast fashion didn’t just alter the way we produce clothes – it changed the way we care about them.
Can we get that ‘just off the shelf’ feeling without buying new?
We’ve forgotten about the magic of repairing our clothes, say the experts.
“When you get an item repaired, it feels good, chemically. You get the same kick as buying new.” says Thami Schweichler, who runs the United Repair Centre based in Amsterdam.
Tyler LaMotte, Product Director for Patagonia, agrees. “People come in saying, I tore this jacket when I went camping, or my fleece got burnt when I was fire-roasting marshmallows with my kids. These are core memories. So when we repair the item, we get an outpouring of love back,” he says. Patagonia repairs anything you’ve bought from them for no cost, even if you bought it second-hand in the first place.
Clearly, clothes are not just bits of material sewn together, they are sentimental – they mean something to every one of us.
“We get a lot of cards, flowers and chocolate boxes, people thanking us for their repairs.
They get really emotional when they receive their item, even if it’s just a replaced zipper on their favourite jacket,” says Thami.
“Instead of telling everyone to stop buying – maybe we just need to convert them over to repairs, so they can get addicted to that instead.”
– Thami Schweichler, the United Repair Centre
Repairing clothes used to be the norm
Looking at the clothing market today, you wouldn’t know it, but repairs used to be practical and cool.
There’s a reason your mum knows how to darn socks and you don’t, it used to be a regular part of life. If a piece of clothing became worn or torn, it would be mended with patches or stitching. In some cultures, this was even fashionable, like the art of ‘Sashiko’ in Japan – a visible, decorative form of mending. The focus wasn’t just on fixing the garment, but on making it beautiful, using intricate patterns to embellish the fabric.
The problem is, most brands don’t give you the choice.
A handful offer their own repair services – Doc Martens replace worn-out soles in their shoes and Gucci will restore leather handbags. But the vast majority are not yet on board. That’s why the United Repair Centre began. It works with 25 brands, from LuluLemon to Decathlon, providing them with technology and a dedicated repairs workshop so they can make their supply chains more circular.
“Brands should just repair their products – that’s the truth. You should be responsible for what you bring into the market,” says Thami.
“When it comes to fast fashion, instead of calling them out, we call them ‘in’” adds Tyler. “
“What we must encourage is an ‘owner’ mindset, like a pair of skis or a house.”
– Tyler LaMotte, Patagonia
Soon brands won’t have a choice
There is a huge opportunity for the repair market in the coming years.
In Europe, many brands will soon have no option but to conform. By January 2026, all large companies in the EU will have to comply with CSRD (the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) requiring them to disclose detailed information on their sustainability practices, with a focus on circularity, resource usage, and supply chain transparency.
Plus, Extended Producer Responsibility (or EPR) will hold textile producers accountable for the entire lifecycle of their products, including waste and recycling. This should incentivise the design of more sustainable and repairable clothes, and new skills will be needed too.
The United Repair Centre already creates jobs for those who find it difficult to access the workplace, whether that’s young people, refugees or those with a mental disability – teaching them key skills in material repairs. There is potential for brands to harness both “environmental and social innovation – but they must start now,” says Thami.
“In 2028 you will probably be looking at a different market. It feels like we are sitting just before the wave happens,” he says.
Take a leaf out of Gen Z’s book
Incorporating repairs into the business model of brands is crucial if we are going to tackle the immense amount of textile waste piling up in landfill every year. Repair services extend the lifespan of garments, lowering the demand for new production, which in turn reduces the industry’s carbon footprint.
And let’s be honest, brands that mend your stuff show a commitment to their customers beyond just selling products.
But until it becomes truly mainstream, young people are getting creative.
Gen Z is already ahead of the curve, whether it’s upcycling or repairs. Anna Molinari is just the latest young designer to go viral on TikTok for her ethical creations, turning trash into fashion.
She mends her old clothes and sews entire dresses out of silver bottle caps and avocado wrappers.
Research also shows young people are now turning to repairs because they simply can’t afford to buy new. A study by Primark in Ireland showed 77% of Gen Z customers had mended their clothes in the last 18 months – whereas that dropped to just 36% for 25-34-year-olds.
Social media movements like the “mended haul” trend have gained traction in the last few years and hashtags like #upcycling and #thriftflip have garnered billions of views on TikTok. Not to mention the surge in second-hand shopping and even renting your clothes which has grown in popularity due to online marketplaces like Hurr and Depop.
“It might seem like climate change and environmental degradation are everywhere around us – and it’s easy to feel powerless sometimes,” says Tyler.
“But we need to send corporations a message that repairs are an integral part of a revolution already taking place,” says Tyler.
