Repair Is Not a Trend—It’s a Skill We Must Reclaim
I feel a bit disoriented when I hear young professionals in sustainability, like the Marketing and Brand Partnerships Lead at SOJO, during the ReLondon webinar "The Power of Repair," claim that the role of brands and organisations is to make repair more appealing and cool. It feels like a missed opportunity. Instead of focusing on making repair trendy, brands and organisations should be transferring resources and knowledge to small communities—not just rebranding repair but enabling it. In the context of London Repair Week, a week-long event launched in 2020 by ReLondon to promote repair and reuse, I find myself reflecting on what is truly needed. After decades of activism and campaigning for sustainable and ethical fashion, we have opened markets for big corporations to second-hand, vintage, and resale, yet without real changes in consumption habits. This cycle repeats itself: big players swoop in, repackage sustainability as a lifestyle trend, and leave the actual work of r...
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