Marks & Spencer is to offer a dedicated clothing repair service for the first time, following a UK study revealing that only 10% of the population is confident enough to repair clothing themselves and that 60% of consumers are looking for retailers to offer more services.

M&S is partnering with clothing repair and alterations expert SOJO, founded in 2021 by Josephine Philips and on a mission to make tailoring and repairs more accessible. SOJO’s small but growing team is made up of tailors, riders, developers and creatives working to accelerate change in the fashion industry.

According to climate action NGO WRAP, in the UK alone, 1.6 billion items of clothing in wardrobes aren’t being worn – which is an average of 31 items per person. The ‘M&S fixed by SOJO’ hub, launching in August, will support M&S customers to give their clothes another life and reduce textile waste – a key pillar of the retailer’s Plan A roadmap to drive the circular economy.

The partnership builds on the established M&S clothes donation scheme with Oxfam, which has collected over 36 million items of clothing, raising an estimated £23 million to tackle poverty around the world.

Through a dedicated online hub, M&S customers will soon be able to select and book a range of bespoke repair services – from zip replacements to invisible knitwear mending – all through a simple online form. With repairs starting from just £5, M&S clothing can be sent, repaired by SOJOs in-house repair team and returned directly to the customer’s doorstep within seven to 10 days. 

Visible across the retailer’s, website, app and stores from this month, ‘Plan A – Another Life’ brings together all M&S circularity services. The platform will also be home to a selection of 60 ‘how to’ videos by M&S in-house technical experts, covering everything from debobbling knitwear to adjusting hemlines created. 

M&S has just published its annual ESG Report for 2024, revealing the progress made to date on its Plan A roadmap. Looking ahead, the retailer is continuing to find new ways to reduce textile waste to drive the circular economy. 

The new partnership with SOJO is supported by the M&S Plan A Accelerator Fund which earlier this year was used to support an online postal trial with Oxfam enabling customers to donate clothing directly to be resold, reused or recycled. 

“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,” said Richard Price, managing director of Clothing and Home at M&S. “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.”

“It has always been a core mission at SOJO to make repairing clothes mainstream and to extend the life of as many garments as possible,” added SOJO’s Josephine Phillips. “As a brand that has remained a firm constant in almost every household and wardrobe in Britain, this partnership will bring easy, accessible and convenient repairs to the general public.”

www.corporate.marksandspencer.com