Repair or not repair? That is no longer a question

• Emotions are attached to favorite parts
• Repairing saves CO2
• Disposable culture is changing
• Almost all brands are joining in
• Retailers are also repairing
• Professionalization is progressing

Vintage sweatshirts, trail running shorts, shoes, tents, rucksacks... The list of products that visitors to the Worn Wear Tiny House from Patagonia is long. "We've made some people happy here," says Mick Austermühle. Patagonia has been touring Europe with its Worn Wear repairs since 2013, visiting trade shows, events and festivals. "Many people bring us their favorite item, which holds precious memories."

This is how the Patagonia Country Manager Germany & Austria describes the biggest advantage of repair services for brands: customer loyalty. After all, few things are as charged with positive emotions as an item that has accompanied the wearer through countless adventures. A brand that saves the life of this material piece of memory digs deep into the heart of the owner.

It's no wonder that this is also repeatedly taken up in advertising. Thus writes Fjällräven for example, writes about the history of a 43-year-old rucksack, while Deuter has even dedicated an entire campaign to its favorite items under #deuterforever.

Mammut has also published figures on its repair service, which the Swiss brand has been offering since 1992. Mammut repairs around 16,000 products worldwide every year. On the one hand in its two repair workshops in Germany and Switzerland, and on the other through an established network of local repair workshops and third-party providers. Replacing zippers is the most common repair. "If you compare the environmental impact of repairing items with buying new products, our workshops save almost 375,000 kg of CO2 and 3,000,000 liters of water every year," says the Mammut sustainability report.

Repairing has long been a trend: in 2009, Martine Postma organized the very first Repair Café in Amsterdam. Repair Café. There are now almost 2,800 branches all over the world, where people come together and repair things that usually no longer have any material value worth mentioning. Growing environmental awareness and increasing sensitivity in the use of resources have supported this development. This is also demonstrated by the more than 100,000 repair instructions that are now available on the ifixit.com platform - everything from a broken microwave to a torn down jacket. Some sports brands, such as Vaude, also provide tutorials there.

However, consumers quickly reach their limits when it comes to some repairs, especially for shoes and textiles. Either special tools or materials are required or there is simply a lack of experience. This is why more and more companies are offering post-warranty repairs under different conditions. According to a study by the European Outdoor Group, almost all of the 69 brands surveyed already offer repair services (76%) or plan to offer them (19%). The few brands that were negative about repairs usually justified this with the costs or complicated logistics.

Repair platforms such as Goodloop are now helping to optimize the after-sales service process. Among other things, the interface offers shipping processing, real-time repair status and data analysis on repaired items and the amount of CO2 saved through repairs.

Retailers also use repair offers to retain customers and boost sales - and this even applies to online-only retailers. According to the eCommerce report by creativestyle almost 50 percent of the largest German online stores in the sports and outdoor industry already offer this service.

Globetrotter recently opened its 17th repair workshop in Germany in its Cologne store. According to Matthias Schwartze, this is now "Europe's largest network of inner-city repair workshops". "Last year, we handled, maintained, repaired and put around 25,000 items back into circulation," says the Globetrotter marketing manager, pleased with the positive response from customers.

The repairability and durability of products has increased in recent years, adds Retail Manager André Gerber: "The number of mono-materials is increasing, as are the demands brands place on their suppliers." The procurement of spare parts still sometimes causes problems. "But we are in the process of reorganizing the processes with our brands. Parts must be available in sufficient quantities and this must be managed in production. We are also currently testing a 3D printer that we could use to reproduce individual parts such as buckles."

The number of repairs is still manageable and relatively easy for brands to handle. However, this will change with greater acceptance and processes will need to be professionalized. Equip Outdoor, with its Rab and Lowe Alpine brands, has therefore already opened four service centers in Canada, the USA, the UK and the Netherlands. The company also offers a "second stitch" there, where only recycled fabrics and offcuts are used for repairs. This saves even more resources and the sometimes contrasting fabrics and trims make the favorite pieces absolutely unique.

Patagonia also repairs clothes not only at trade shows such as OutDoor by ISPO, but since 2022 together with other textile companies at the United Repair Center (URC) in Amsterdam - a project that puts socially disadvantaged people in particular to work. Willem Swager, Director of Finance & Operations EMEA at Patagonia, says: "The textile industry needs a structural change. That's why we are calling for the reuse and longer wear of clothing through repair and recycling. It needs to become the norm for more brands to offer this as a service and consider it part of their normal business." Or, as the URC website puts it: "Repair is the new cool!"