Unravelling the complexity of clothing repair in space and time

The prolonged dominance of fast rhythms of production and consumption in the Western 'throwaway societies' has contributed to the decline in clothing repair knowledge and competencies, which progressively fade away through lack of application. Despite an increased interest in clothing repair in the last decade, mending practices within the domestic landscapes in the Western context are limited to a 'niche' and have precarious, marginal, and residual qualities. Simultaneously, in the East European post-socialist societies, clothing repair has never ceased to be a relevant cultural practice. The ability to sew, mend, revitalise and transform clothes was and still is a socially widespread occurrence. Therefore, in this article, I propose to acknowledge the 'unintended' but real sustainability of the Soviet clothing use practices, arguing that their study can shed light on how to re-discover and re-distribute clothing repair knowledge and competencies.