The United Repair Centre London is encouraging the fashion industry to ‘move away from disposability and waste’, reports Miriam Balanescu

A new fashion centre has launched in Harringay’s warehouse district which aims to encourage other apparel brands to “move away from disposability and waste”.

The United Repair Centre London (URCL) is founded by Thami Schweichler in the hope of fostering a “circular” fashion economy, hiring employees from underemployed backgrounds and training them in ‘high quality clothing repairs’.

The centre is the second branch to open, following the launch of the United Repair Centre Amsterdam in 2022. United Repair Centre Amsterdam currently handles 30,000 repairs per year from brands such as Decathlon, Lululemon and Patagonia, while URCL has capacity to undertake 30,000 repairs a year by 2025.

URCL has launched in collaboration with Haringey-based organisation Fashion-Enter – with the company operating in its existing premises – and outdoor clothing brand Patagonia. Fashion-Enter has said they were facing staff layoffs in light of client retailers moving production to cheaper facilities abroad – but because of the new centre have been able to retain their staff.

Jenny Holloway, CEO of Fashion-Enter, said: “Haringey in North London has a long history as a home of high-quality British garment manufacturing, but in the current market for cheaper production we could not maintain our high standards of quality or our ethical standards. We had to pivot the business quickly and be nimble! Now, we have an exciting collaboration to move into repairs. Our highly skilled team are absolutely delighted that they are contributing to a circular economy for fashion today.”

Schweichler, CEO and founder of United Repair Centre, said: “The apparel industry has a bad reputation for the harms inflicted on the environment, and the people who make our clothes – but it doesn’t have to be this way. We must help customers keep their clothes in use for longer and practice conscious consumption in the future, if we are to have a living planet to do business on. And now, with the launch of URC London, we’re making it easy for responsible clothing brands to join the growing repair movement.”

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, or one-off donation.