Patagonia co-founds Amsterdam repairs centre
04/07/2022
Already affiliated with Dutch brand Scotch & Soda, the partners' vision for the URC was realised with support from the Amsterdam Economic Board and local social impact investors.
A dedicated URC academy is set to launch this coming September in collaboration with non-profit House of Denim, also based in Amsterdam. The aim is to deliver certified garment-maker training to a minimum of 300 students considered most likely to benefit over the coming years, according to the collaborators.
Co-founder and managing director at Makers Unite, Thami Schweichler, described the opening as representing “a unique opportunity to create valuable jobs”, especially for those experiencing some difficulty in obtaining one.
By promoting repair and reuse of existing articles as an attractive alternative to continuous newness, URC hopes to be able to undertake around 300,000 repairs annually. This would effectively prevent over 450,000 kilograms of textile waste per year, an announcement said.
“Structural change is needed in the textile industry,” commented director of finance and operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Patagonia, Willem Swager. “Patagonia is calling on brands to stimulate reuse and longer wear of clothing through repair and recycling. It needs to become normal for more brands to offer this as a service and see it as business as usual.”
Image: Hamza Kashash.
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