Layers of repair increasing the emotional durability of fashion and textiles

This paper explores our relationship with clothing and textiles from the perspective of mending. It asks how layers of repair can increase the emotional durability of fashion and textiles. It aims to rethink fashion and to create a caring environment through the act of repair, co-creation and craftivism. The paper presents a case study based on the exhibition “Pikem suhe” (A Long Engagement)at Kondas Centre, Viljandi, Estonia. The exhibition was formulated through co-design with the participating artists and the audience. The designers and artists exhibiting their work invited the public to participate in repair workshops, with the hope to support garment use time and enhance social wellbeing and emotional satisfaction. The works presented in the exhibition were accompanied by stories about the items of repair and provide the data on which this paper is based. The findings from the analysis of these written stories show repair being added layer by layer to loved clothes to prolong the relationship once the items start to wear out. The layers of repair can be seen as an embodiment of narratives from our prolonged relationship with clothes.