manifesto

Fashion is a wasteful industry and let’s be honest: we’re over it.

In the Netherlands alone, an average person disposes 40 clothing items annually. If business continues as usual, by 2050 more than 150 million tonnes of clothing would end up in landfills or burned releasing harmful toxins.

We can prevent this. Why throw away your favourite piece of clothing when it could simply be repaired and worn season after season? There is no reason why clothes should not be worn for longer. Instead of buying new, let’s extend the life of clothes by repairing pre-loved clothing. In doing so, by wearing clothes for just nine months longer, we can reduce waste and water usage by approximately 20% – 30% (Chan, 2021).

We are on a mission to change the fashion industry.

The United Repair Centre provides an alternative to buying new by offering clothing repair services. As a cross-industry collaboration between apparel brands, consultancy groups, government agencies, NGOs and education institutions, we strive to make clothing repair the new norm.

We believe that we can make a difference in reducing textile waste while benefiting local communities. All of our repair tailors are newcomers with refugee backgrounds and young adults. Through the United Repair Centre, we want to support the talent of people who may face difficulties accessing the labour market.