The high street retailer Marks & Spencer has partnered with the clothing repair and alterations platform, SoJo to bring a suite of new clothing repair services to customers via a dedicated online hub.
The partnership will be officially launched online this August and is being supported by M&S’ one-million-pound Plan A Accelerator Fund to invest sustainability and navigate towards the circular economy.
Recent research from M&S found that only 10% of the population is confident enough to repair clothing themselves while 60% of consumers are looking for retailers to offer more services which will support them in their efforts to lower their carbon footprint.
Meanwhile, according to the climate action NGO, WRAP around 1.6bn items of clothing are currently left unworn in UK wardrobes – an average of 31 items per person. The ‘M&S fixed by SoJo’ hub will, therefore, support the retailer and its customers in giving their M&S clothes ‘another life’ through its repair services.
The aim is to contribute to a national reduction in textile waste, a key pillar of M&S’ current Plan A roadmap to drive forwards the circular economy.
Through a dedicated online hub, M&S customers will be able to select and book a range of bespoke repair services – from zip replacements to invisible knitwear mending – all through one simple online form. Repairs start from £5, enabling customers to send their M&S clothing of to be repaired by a member of SoJo’s in-house repair team before being returned directly to the customer within seven to 10 days.
SoJo was founded in 2012 by Josephine Philips with the mission to make tailoring and repairs more accessible. Today, the SoJo team is made up of tailors, riders, developers, and creatives working to accelerate change in the fashion industry.
“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,” said Josephine. “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.
“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.”
The new partnership comes amid a buzz of activity from M&S and follows the grand unveiling of the retailer’s Plan A – Another Life initiative. Visible across its website, app, and within stores from this month, Another Life brings together all M&S’ circularity services in one place, including its Beauty Takeback Scheme with Handle and its long-running clothes donation programme with Oxfam.
The Another Life platform will also be home to a series of 60-second ‘how to’ videos covering everything from debobbling knitwear to adjusting hemlines.
Last week, M&S also published its 2024 ESG Report offering a transparent view of the retailer’s progress to date on its Plan A roadmap.
Richard Price, managing director of clothing and home at M&S, said: “At M&S, exceptional quality products are at the heart of everything we do, and we want to ensure that all our clothes are too good to waste.
“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.”
Earlier this year, M&S’ £1m Plan A Accelerator Fund was used to support an online trial with Oxfam which enabled customers to donate their unwearable – but too good to waste – clothing, alongside their pre-loved, wearable clothing directly to Oxfam to be resold, reused, or recycled.
