At Flair, we enjoy bringing new opinions and suggestions on clothing, style, and clothing care. This week, we’re sharing some thoughts from iconic New Zealand designer Kate Sylvester. Kate creates the Sylvester collections, handbags, shoes, and accessories.
Recently, Ms. Sylvester disrupted the fashion industry with her “Repairs” initiative. The program helps the company do its part to minimize the volume of garments that end up in landfills. It also helps extend the life of their customers’ clothes. Essentially, customers bring their worn Kate Sylvester garment from any year or any season into a Kate Sylvester store. The employees complete minor repairs. These include lining repairs, replacing missing buttons, fixing zippers, and repairing seams. All garments must be cleaned prior to being brought to a store for repair.
Clothing Care
When asked why clothing longevity was important, she said, “There are millions of garments that end up in landfills each year and we want to encourage our customers to take care of their garments and love them forever.”
For many, mending and clothing repair is a lost art, especially in today’s disposable society. Yet, some older clothing is often the best quality. She said that the oldest piece in her own closet is a silk crepe de chine shirt that has a very pretty feature button as there were no original buttons to replace it. “It’s getting even softer and better with age,” she added.
At Flair, we share this philosophy. That’s why we offer tailoring and minor repairs on most garments and shoes. If you have a piece of clothing that needs mending or tailoring, bring it to Flair, or donate it instead of sending it to a landfill.
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