Rescue, repair and Redress

In September we published our very first 'how-to', which featured a step-by-step guide to show you how to mend a hole in the knee of your favourite jeans or trousers. We had wanted to give the blog a repair focus for some time and when Hong Kong based NGO Redress asked us to collaborate in their 365 Challenge and help save clothing from landfill by way of offering our top mending tips, well...that was just the catalyst we needed to get mending again.

Christina Dean, founder of Hong Kong based ethical fashion NGO Redress wearing pink shorts post-repair

Each day in September, Redress founder Christina Dean wore a garment that had been damaged and, following our repair tips, had been brought back to life. We've picked a few of our favourite outfits to show you, but you can read more about the challenge and see the 'before' and 'after' images and tips in the repair Style Sheet.

We spent a few moments with Christina to get some insider info about her year-long style challenge...

Christina Dean, founder of Hong Kong based ethical fashion NGO Redress wearing white stretch-lace dress post-repair

TGW: Which garment did you most enjoy bringing back to life in our repair month and why?

Christina: I really liked getting creative with trimmings and there are two items I particularly enjoyed bringing back to life. The black dress, transformed with sequined trimming down the back to cover up a big tear, and the white lace dress, that had damage on the back. For both items I was stuck with what to do as the damage was beyond simple skills of hemming or button sewing, but a visit to the haberdashery and advice from Zoe saved these items with relatively simple use of trimmings. Both items were also quite versatile to 'redress' across the month.

Christina Dean, founder of Hong Kong based ethical fashion NGO Redress wearing a silk dress post-repair

TGW: Where are your go-to places for repairs and alterations in Hong Kong?

Christina: We are lucky to have a big selection of tailors and repair shops here in Hong Kong. A few of our favourites are:

Clothes Alternations:
• Eva Alternation Tailor - Shop 230, 2/F, World Wide Plaza, 19 Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong. TEL: 2523 5550 / 2147 9499
• Leung Kam Fat Clothes Mending and Alternation - Pedder Lane, Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong. TEL: 2804 6639

Shoe Repair:
• Shing Do Shoe Repair - No.6 Pedder Lane, Central, HK. TEL: 9310 8558
• Mak Kin Kee - 10, Pedder Lane, Pedder Street, Central, HK

Christina Dean, founder of Hong Kong based ethical fashion NGO Redress wearing shoes and bag post-repair

TGW: What do you have in store for the final three months of the 365 Challenge?

Christina: We have some interesting months still to come for The 365 Challenge. October is Shop Smart, looking at the dos and don'ts when shopping for a sustainable wardrobe. In November the theme is Reconstruction and we are working with a variety of designers from across the world taking post consumer garments and giving them a rebirth into new garments I will be wearing. We finish up the year in December with Recycling.

Christina Dean, founder of Hong Kong based ethical fashion NGO Redress wearing pink beaded top post-repair

You can read more about our collaboration and the role that repair has to play in the future of the fashion industry in Christina and Zoe's article on Guardian Sustainable Business: The war on disposable fashion: is make, do and mend back in vogue?

 

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