Pledge To Repair: Vestiaire Collective Joins SOJO’s New Repair Initiative

5 months ago

Buyers and sellers can now extend the lifetime of their garments

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SOJO is on a mission to get the UK into the habit of repairing old items of clothing, recruiting a range of brands as part of its Pledge To Repair initiative – and the latest big name to join the fold is none other Vestiaire Collective.

SOJO & Vestiaire Collective Team Up On Repair Service

Following the launch of its Pledge To Repair initiative back in April, SOJO has teamed up with luxury resale platform Vestiaire Collective on a new repairs service. Vestiaire customers will now have access to expert tailors, as well as SOJO’s zero emissions collection and home delivery service, to keep their items looking fresh (and safe from landfill).

With 65 percent of Vestiaire Collective’s returns coming down to size and fit, it’s hoped that having the opportunity to tailor any secondhand garments purchased through the platform will help more shoppers to keep their items – and keep them for longer. Once they’ve received their Vestiaire purchase, shoppers will then be able to book any alterations needed and organise a SOJO item collection. Each item will then be repaired at SOJO’s in-house repair studios before being delivered directly back to them.

It also works for those on the other side of resale platform; sellers will also have access to the service, and be able to make any necessary repairs to their items and potentially increase the sale value.

‘At Vestiaire Collective, we’re dedicated to empowering our community to enact sustainable change through prolonging the lifespan of high-quality clothing,’ says Fanny Moizant, President and Co-Founder of Vestiaire Collective. ‘Our partnership with SOJO and commitment to the Pledge to Repair initiative empowers our customers with tailoring and repair services, furthering our commitment to reducing waste and overconsumption. Collaborating with another female-led company underscores our dedication to fostering industry-wide collaboration.’

What Is Pledge To Repair?

Pledge To Repair is a new initiative created by repairs platform SOJO that calls on the UK fashion industry to cut its textile waste through care and repair services. Launched at the British Fashion Council’s Institute of Positive Fashion (IPF) Forum, Pledge To Repair encourages both brands and people to commit to extending the life cycle of clothing items – with the goal of keeping the fashion we already have out of landfill, introducing a circular economy and contributing towards the UK’s 2030 Net Zero targets.

‘Many of us have followed all the progress in the sustainable fashion space accelerated through EU legislation. While those advancements are motivating to see, I have definitely felt frustrated by the lack of movement in the UK,’ explains Josephine Philips, Founder & CEO of SOJO. ‘Since launch, at SOJO we have been focused on what we can do as a business to drive change, the Pledge is our effort to create a collective industry wide movement, going beyond individual partnerships to build a collaborative coalition with the potential of influencing policy on a governmental level. It is through collective action and legislation that true change will happen at the speed it needs to.’

The Pledge works across three principle groups – fashion businesses, circularity business champions and citizens – detailing what each one can do to help extend the longevity of garments:

Fashion Businesses: Commit to offer a UK-wide repair service to customers, making repair and end of life part of their core business offering in a commitment to reduce textile waste.
Circularity Business Champions: Commit to advocate the value and drive the implementation of repair services within their organisations and the industry at large.
Citizens: Commit to repairing their garments, choosing the repair instead of replacing worn or damaged items.

Brands who have already taken the Pledge include SOHO’s long-standing partner GANNI, Nanushka, Ahluwalia and Damson Madder – alongside Vestiaire Collective.