Visible Mending: The Surging Trend

The concept of mending clothing isn’t exactly new and has been practiced for as long as needles and threads have existed. In recent years though, the concept of visible mending has become a popular way to keep both financial and environmental costs in check.

It’s well-known that the apparel industry creates a disproportionate amount of waste, but one way to offset some of the damage of apparel production is to repair rather than replace damaged clothing items. Extending a garment’s life just nine months can reduce its environmental impact by 20-30% and there’s been a recent surge in clothing repair equipment purchases as unique, imperfect clothing has become trendy again.

We designed the LIVSN Repair Program to make our customer’s life easier, prolong a garment’s lifecycle, and return something just as good—or better – than what they sent in. Whether you like your darning done loud or subtle, we feel these additions add character to garments, extending their usage window and adding a physical reminder that reflects the owner’s unique adventures.

Visible mending means exactly what’s on the tag: it’s the simple act of making clothing repairs with thread or fabric that sticks out rather than hiding the damaged area.

At LIVSN, we offer “loud” or “subtle” repair options for our customers to select when they fill out their initial repair form. There’s a bit of randomness that goes into the “loud” process as each fabric, location, and available thread will vary but we like to think that’s part of the fun.

We try to keep things simple and straightforward with the repair program but as each case is unique, there are some inherent differences with each case.

Essentially, you start your repair program journey by filling out this lovely form. After sharing some intimate details like:
 

• Name
• Address
• How your week is going
• Product to be repaired
• Wear and tear vs. warranty case
• Damage description
• Subtle or loud repair

You then send back the damaged-but-still-kicking piece off to our wonderful local partners at Interform for evaluation and repair. Once they arrive they are promptly repaired by the best and brightest seamsters/seamstresses and modern sewing tools available. 

Once those pesky damages are swept aside and your clothing is ready to be reunited with its owner and reintegrated into society, they are sent back with tracking so you know when to expect them.

We’ve had great success with this process through transparent communication with both our customers and our production partners. If you are thinking of sending your pants in for a tune-up but have further questions about our process, don’t hesitate to reach out to us as we’d be happy to answer.

The last thing we ever want is for our products to go unused, end up in a landfill, or be thrown out into the cold once a few threads start to fray. We want to make the repair process so easy that you don’t fret when you take a fall or snag a branch and your gear takes some inevitable hits.

We hope that by providing both quiet and visible mending options, we can keep more LIVSN gear in action for longer. This not only gives the planet’s overtaxed resources a break, but gives our customers a piece of unique apparel that lasts longer—and through visible mending—arguably looks even better.