Levi’s handstitching course teaches teens four repair tasks
Encouraging customers to mend worn clothes instead of buying new ones might seem like a self-defeating sales strategy, according to a report from The Associated Press. In practice, the news service found, in-store repairs and sewing workshops are becoming essential retail services for clothing brands as they try to appeal to young consumers who want to save money and the planet.
The concept has long been the province of luxury fashion houses and select specialty retailers. Patagonia and L.L. Bean, for example, have offered product repairs for decades, the AP reported.
That approach has now caught on across the broader apparel market. Jeans giant Levi Strauss & Co., casual-wear chain Uniqlo and budget retailer Primark are among the apparel companies hoping to win over Generation Z shoppers with a needle and thread, according to the report.
Levi’s created a handstitching course for high school students after determining that many members of Generation Z lacked the sewing skills to match their interest in thrift-store shopping and sustainability, the AP said.
Company employees spend 90 minutes instructing teenagers on four tasks: sewing on a button, hemming, patching a hole and fixing a tear.
The push reflects how the mending-and-waste-reduction pitch, once limited to the upper end of the market, has become a tool mainstream and budget retailers are deploying to attract younger shoppers weighing both cost and environmental impact, the report indicated.