The Dutch company United Repair Center (URC) opened a clothing repair center in London on November 1st together with the British textile producer Fashion-Enter Ltd and the outdoor outfitter Patagonia.
The facility in Haringey offers “the capacity to carry out 30,000 repairs per year by 2025,” said URC. The partnership with clothing manufacturer Fashion-Enter enables URC London to “operate in its existing facility and train the team on site in technical repairs”.
The center will initially handle repair orders for Patagonia, but there is enough space “for other brands to join Patagonia,” URC explained. Three other labels have already agreed to use the facility in the future.
URC has been operating a repair center in Amsterdam since last year
United Repair Center was founded in 2021 on the initiative of the creative agency Makers Unite in collaboration with the Amsterdam Economic Board and Patagonia. The company has been operating a repair center in Amsterdam since last year. According to URC, 30,000 repairs can be carried out there every year. In addition to Patagonia, other well-known clothing suppliers such as Decathlon and Lululemon already use the center.
Thami Schweichler, the CEO and co-founder of URC, explained the background to the new opening in London. “We need to help customers wear their clothes longer and consume consciously in the future if we want to have a living planet on which to do business,” he said in a statement. “With the launch of URC London, we are making it easy for responsible clothing brands to join the growing repair movement.”