End it or Mend it!

Bring your torn clothing along and fix it!

This time, the networking event was dedicated to the question: What value do garments hold?

Together with the textile department of the degree programme Technology & Design (before Design: Technology.Textile), we invited everybody to bring along cherished or unwanted, used, or holey garments – items you’d like to save from the trash, ones you’re attached to, or those stored in the deepest compartments of your closet.
25 people joined this event. At various stations, these garments could be repaired, patched, upcycled, or redesigned.

We discussed questions such as: When is something unusable? How do we define the value of things? What does it take to move from throwing things away to repairing them? What role does our personal commitment play, and what social conditions are necessary for this?

Afterward, the participants were invited to a shared exchange and a vegan dinner.

Many of our guests’ items were closely linked to personal memories – sometimes dating back to childhood: “This pillowcase has belonged to my partner since he was a child, so I think it would be great to repair it.” Other decisions stemmed from very specific everyday situations: for example, a child’s favourite trousers, which absolutely had to be kept despite being damaged. Some items of clothing were almost hopeless cases – which made the repair all the more important: “My boyfriend’s shirt has more than one problem, but I like complicated cases.” Other items, such as self-designed T-shirts, have special significance as gifts and are therefore worn for years. Functional protective and everyday items that people would like to use for longer were also repaired that evening.
In the Book of Memories, filled in for the first time, one of the earliest entries reads: the wish to experience such networking events more often in future.

Moderation: Sonja Prlić und Kinga Szemessy
Textile experts: Susanne Roittner-Nething, Levi Pritz, Johanna Schwarz, Elisabetta Borriello, Prof. Annette Fauvel

Photos: Ute Brandhuber-Schmelzinger, Nataliia Bozhok