Repair as a Sensory Experience

In MArch 2025, Emma Harris had the amazing opportunity to work with Toast, the slow fashion brand. Toast places a lot of emphasis on the Circular design strategy of repair and in MArch, Emma wrote an article for Toast - ‘Repair as a sensory Experience. ’

“Our clothes carry the stories of the lives we lead and, more often than not, the tears, rips and threadbare areas can offer up some clues about our lifestyle or habits.” - Toast Repair

The article reflects on the sensory experience of repair as a means to encourage emotional bonding to our garments - “Repair is a way to restore the hidden emotions that dwell in the garment. Perhaps mending our clothing could foster that emotional attachment to our clothing that we seem to have lost, allowing us to not only give new life to our garments but express our creative identity, share our personal narratives and build our sense of self.” - Emma Harris

“Toast Use traditional techniques, many of which are sewn by hand, to extend the life of your garment for years to come. By taking the time to restore a well-loved item and highlight its worn areas, we can rethink our relationship with clothing. Whether darned, reworked or visibly mended, a garment begins to tell a story of the wearer.” - Toast Repair

Read the full article here - https://www.toa.st/blogs/magazine/sensory-experience-of-garment-repair