Marks and Spencer (M&S) is set to launch a new clothing repair and alteration service in August, responding to the growing demand for sustainable fashion and clothing reuse. The major retailer has partnered with SOJO, a renowned clothing repair and alterations expert, to offer the service.
Customers will be able to book bespoke repair services through a new online hub called “M&S Fixed by SOJO.” SOJO’s in-house team will handle the repairs, with services starting from £5. Once the repairs are completed, the items will be returned directly to the customer’s doorstep within seven to ten days.
SOJO was founded in 2021 by Josephine Philips with the mission of giving clothes “another life.” Speaking about the new partnership, Richard Price, managing director of clothing and home at M&S, said, “Through the launch of our repair service, we’re making it even easier for customers to give their clothes another life, whether they are using our new repair service or long-standing clothes recycling scheme.
The move comes as statistics from the climate action NGO WRAP reveal that 1.6 billion items of clothing in UK wardrobes are not being worn, averaging 31 items per person. M&S aims to address this issue through their new service, which builds on their established clothes donation scheme with Oxfam. This scheme has collected over 36 million items of clothing, raising an estimated £23 million to tackle poverty worldwide.
Josephine Phillips, Founder and CEO of SOJO, expressed her excitement about the partnership, saying, “It has always been a core mission of ours at SOJO to make repairing clothes mainstream and to extend the life of as many garments as possible. I’m so excited that M&S has chosen to launch a repair service with us at SOJO as it’s an incredibly big step towards that mission.”
She added, “As a brand that has remained a firm constant in almost every household and wardrobe in Britain, this partnership will truly bring easy, accessible, and convenient repairs to the masses. Beyond that, as one of the longest-standing British brands, having M&S join our Pledge to Repair adds such a great weight to our call for industry-wide change here in the UK.”
