Why the maths doesn’t work to repair my fashion items

The problem with circular business models currently is one of margins and thus consumer uptake.

Barbour and Birkenstocks in need of repair

I’ve realised recently that I love an anecdotal experience of sustainable fashion. Given I spend most of my days in technical documents and policy conversations, by this I particularly mean a real consumer-facing version of trying to make more responsible choices. It’s incredibly eye-opening because what it exposes when you’re literally trying to put things into action, is all of the holes that exist in doing so.

If you follow me on Linkedin, you’ll know I’ve been particularly going on about school uniforms as one example - all of which stems from the experience of trying to manage a shed full of pre-loved items at my kid’s school, and attempts to recirculate them with parents who are used to shopping via supermarkets and fast fashion stores instead. At one point, my husband and I quite literally had a mound of grey trousers, skirts and pinafore dresses waist-high in our living room to sort through. In of itself, it was quite the learning experience.

More recently, however, I’ve been particularly thinking about repair.

Now, I do basic repairs at home myself on a not infrequent basis. Darning, hemming, button sewing etc. I can manage a few trickier items on my sewing machine, and for anything else, I use a local tailor or indeed go via services like Sojo to make it happen.

But I have two pieces that I know come with a repair service from the brand they’re a part of, and so I recently set about trying to send them off to sort them out. One is a Barbour jacket with rips across the waxed fabric itself as well as in the lining, and the other is a pair of Birkenstocks that are so worn down on the sole that they completely need replacing. Neither can I do myself because of the technicalities of what’s involved, not to mention the materials required.

In both instances, they are truly well-loved pieces. The Barbour is my husband’s, but I wear it more than him. It was originally second-hand - bought from a man on the side of the road with a stall outside the Hay Literary Festival about six years ago. It’s been properly beaten since, and looks utterly scruffy, but isn’t unwearable by any means.

The Birkenstocks I would say I wear every day for a solid four-five months of the year - they owe me nothing but continue to be a favourite. Unfortunately they really are unwearable now.

Here’s the thing, to fix the Barbour jacket is going to cost about £120 to both repair (various holes on the front and sleeves, and a torn lining) and re-wax. The Birkenstocks are going to cost £45 to resole, or £69 to fit with a new footbed as well. In both instances, I need to send them away and wait several weeks until I get them back again. I also have to pay postage in both directions, which in the examples of the Birkenstocks adds £7.95 for the return (which you pay upfront) plus whatever it costs at the post office to send in the first instance.

And herein lies the challenge I think both consumers and thus businesses in this sector are facing with circular business models: the economics just don’t add up.