London
Awareness campaign
Textile
Encourage learning and experimentation
Particularly in large cities like London, consumers have a ‘throw-away’ culture and this attitude extends to their clothes. When clothes suffer from normal wear and tear, rather than repairing or altering them, many people simply throw them in the bin. Part of the problem is that previously ubiquitous skills have been lost, and people simply don’t know that easy sewing hacks can give their clothes a new lease of life.
20 sewing workshops were organised across as many London boroughs, working in collaboration with local councils and waste authorities. These were a mixture of repair and alterations and re-styling and customisation workshops, held in local community centres and targeted at residents who could attend for free. Offering free workshops removed a barrier which might prevent people from attending and generated positivity towards the campaign and the local council. Most workshops ran as three-hour sessions with attendees expected to participate for the full time, although a number were run as more flexible drop-in workshops.
Six expert crafters were contracted to run the workshops, assigning each crafter to one, or a group of boroughs. The crafters and local councils were responsible for running the workshops and for planning, promotion and logistics of the workshops in the run up to the event. Financial support, promotional materials, PR and communications support, as well as overall project management was provided by Wrap.
Through these workshops, the aim was to address the lack of sewing skills in today’s society, a contributing factor to a culture which consumes rather than re-using and repairing.
Around 200 residents attended the workshops, averaging at ten people per workshop.
Wrap, London local city councils, waste authorities.