Empowering through repair: Sustainable Fashion community bring mending workshop to Falmouth high street

Members of Falmouth’s Sustainable Fashion MA (Online) course are leading a mending and repair workshop in Falmouth town on Sunday 5 October as part of Sustainable Fashion Week (SFW).  

SFW is a UK-wide initiative which has run annually since 2021 and aims to unite communities to act and change fashion from the bottom up. 

Entitled ‘Fix It, Don't Ditch It’, the event will take place at The Cornish Bank and is a free drop-in mending and repair workshop. Current student Gracie Roberts, who organised the event, told us: “The idea is to bring people together through the art of repair. Anyone is welcome to bring their own items and learn how to fix them or just come along to try out some fun sustainable textile techniques.  

“We’re proud to be running this event as part of SFW, an initiative which empowers people with the skills and resources to rethink their relationship with clothing — starting from the grassroots, and working toward positive, lasting change.” 

As a freelance garment designer and repairer, Gracie joined the master’s course to follow her creative interest in textiles and repair, while strengthening her awareness of the social and environmental impact the fashion industry can have.

We are helping to develop a culture and community around these practices and values by spreading knowledge, connecting people and making change happen. - MA Course Leader Tom Crisp 

“I've been drawn to sewing and mending clothes for as long as I can remember”, Gracie explained. “My grandparents, with their simple, low-consumption lifestyle, were a big inspiration to me. They were always repairing, reusing and making things last. I believe most of us have a connection to clothing in some way; a favourite garment, or a certain style, whether we're conscious of it or not. That’s what really interests me: not ‘fashion’ in the traditional sense, but the personal, practical, and emotional relationships we have with what we wear.” 

Since its launch in 2022, Falmouth’s online Sustainable Fashion MA continues to build a dynamic collective of visionary practitioners from all over the world. Supported by an expert team of seasoned academics and tutors, students on the course question industry norms and reframe fashion systems through regenerative and life-centred design principles. 

Course Leader Tom Crisp said: “The event on Sunday is not just about the act of swapping clothes or repairing and altering them. By enabling people to make the clothes they love last longer by adding a personal connection, we are helping to develop a culture and community around those practices and values by spreading knowledge, connecting people and making change happen.” 

Find out more about the event here, which will also feature a 99p Films evening screening of Actionism, a film about the power of community and textiles repair. 

Illustration: @mwilliams_design

Learn more about Sustainable Fashion MA (Online)