How Patagonia Prioritizes Product Repairs
Patagonia is linking up with two European social impact groups to promote fashion repairs at a new London facility.
The United Repair Centre London (URC) opened Thursday in Haringey—the result of a partnership between Amsterdam-based circular textile manufacturing solutions provider United Repair Centre, an arm of Makers Unite, and British non-profit apparel manufacturing training academy Fashion-Enter. Alongside the American outdoor brand, the partners have launched a social enterprise that aims to train and employ individuals, including refugees and others in need of employment, to repair clothing.
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The London launch follws the success of the original URC, which opened in Amsterdam last year with help from the Amsterdam Economic Board and Patagonia. The Netherlands-based facility has ramped up operational capacity to perform 30,000 repairs annually—a metric the groups hope to see the London branch hit by 2025.
“We must help customers keep their clothes in use for longer and practice conscious consumption in the future, if we are to have a living planet to do business on,” URC CEO and founder Thami Schweichler said. “And now, with the launch of URC London, we’re making it easy for responsible clothing brands to join the growing repair movement.”
URC London will be housed at Fashion-Enter’s existing garment production facility, where its team will help trainees learn technical repairs. Fashion-Enter said it was facing potential layoffs as U.K. retailers moved production outside the country, but the URC London opening allow it to preserve 15 jobs.
“Haringey in North London has a long history as a home of high-quality British garment manufacturing, but in the current market for cheaper production we could not maintain our high standards of quality or our ethical standards,” said Jenny Holloway, Fashion-Enter’s CEO. The nonprofit quickly pivoted to accommodate URC London, and will now enter the repairs space with the help of experienced organizations. “Our highly skilled team are absolutely delighted that they are contributing to a circular economy for fashion today,” she added.
URC London will also receive strategic guidance from the British Fashion Council’s Institute of Positive Fashion, as well as circular economy expertise from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The facility will first provide repairs for Patagonia consumers in the U.K., with three other brands in the pipeline for the coming year.
The project cements Patagonia’s sustainability commitments and mission to promote responsible consumption. The B Corp has been focused on educating consumers about how to prolong the lifecycle of their apparel for more than 10 years, offering free repairs to keep items in use. It recently launched a repairs portal on its e-commerce site, and sells used and vintage products via the Worn Wear resale channel.
“With the launch of United Repair Centre London, we are looking to dramatically scale our impact and empower other clothing companies to move away from disposability and waste, and weave circularity into their business models,” said Alex Beasley, Patagonia country manager for the U.K., Ireland and Nordics.
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