ADDRESS ADDRESSES VISIBLE MENDING MOVEMENT

Address Publications, a Journal for Fashion Criticism, is one of the smartest voices out there. An super-intelligent, expert, academic yet readable gaze into the guts of the beast, Address addresses what underlies the hype and marketing and economics and business of fashion. Basically, just: read it! 

So I am delighted to be mentioned in Mended Scars, the most excellent article by Berlin-based fashion designer, maker and theorist Aicha Abbadi, published this week as part of their Fashion From the Shadows series. 

Mend More Sweater by Bridget Harvey, from Address Publications "Mended Scars"

Abbadi has captured the essence of our new-mending better than anyone. Here's her intro to the article, describing the ethos of the movement:

"Once a regular chore, mending clothes has become a lost practice as replacements are cheaper, free time scarce and domestic skills forgotten in favor of digital technologies. As a result, mended scars are rarely found in garments anymore.

Without a hint of nostalgia, new projects aiming to revive these lost traditions of mending adapt contemporary aesthetics to motivate fashion enthusiasts to care for their clothes. This new mending movement is not purely born out of financial necessity or environmental concerns. Instead, the proponents of this tradition strongly believe that the act of repair does not only serve to bring a garment back to its original state, but rather adds to its value and demarcates a visible episode in its history by inscribing traces of use and care. It is as much a reaction against disposable fashion as it is a poetic expression of beauty in the imperfect."

As well as VisibleMending, she covers Patagonia's Repair Truck, Nudie Jeans, Heleen Klopper's Woolfiller, The Renewal Project and more. Thank you, and: read it!

1 Response

Aïcha Abbadi

September 26, 2017

Thank you for the kind words and sharing the article, Kate! I have definitely increased my mending activities since its publication and am looking forward to seeing more of it!

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