Project

Care & Repair

1 September 2025 - 1 April 2028

Over the past twenty years, global clothing production has more than doubled, while the lifespan of clothing has been cut in half. As a result, waste is increasing and the environmental burden is growing. Although ‘design for longevity’ and recycling are widely discussed, there is often little attention to how clothing is actually used, washed, and maintained in practice. Yet, there are opportunities: a quarter of the clothing in wardrobes is still technically intact, and two-thirds of discarded clothing is still perfectly wearable.

Circular interventions: from repair to rethink

Care & Repair focuses on maintenance (care) and repair (repair). We formulate solutions that go beyond repair alone and make room for four circular interventions: repair, refurbish, redesign, and rethink.
Our goal? To design repairable clothing and systems that truly make repair accessible for users, designers, tailors, and brands.

Double Diamond model and co-creation

We follow the Double Diamond model—explore, define, develop, and implement—and work through co-creation with all stakeholders in the clothing chain. We combine:

participatory design
behavioral research
iterative testing in real-life settings
ecosystemic learning (social learning)

Objectives of Care & Repair

With Care & Repair we aim to:

gain insights into effective strategies that encourage users to actively maintain and repair their clothing;
provide a clear understanding of the role of tailors and designers within broader, sustainable repair networks;
develop tools and workshops enabling designers to integrate repair-minded approaches into their practice;
support brands with business cases that demonstrate how Care & Repair can be structurally integrated into their business model;
provide designers with practical tools to shape their role as drivers of systemic change.

Results of Care & Repair

White-label concepts for Care & Repair that designers, brands, and tailors can apply directly.
Guidelines and training programs to integrate maintenance into design and repair processes.
Consumer campaign with proven behavioral interventions to stimulate maintenance and repair.
Business case guide for brands, providing insights into customer retention, loyalty, and sustainability.
Toolkit on design orchestration as a key to systemic change.
Scientific insights into the conscious and unconscious drivers behind repair behavior.

Why Care & Repair is essential for environmental, economic, and social impact

Environmental impact: preventing replacement reduces textile waste.
Social normalization: making care for clothing common again.
Economic opportunities: for designers, tailors, and brands in a circular economy.

NewTexEco

Care & Repair is part of the broader NewTexEco community, in which ArtEZ, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA), Saxion, and more than 30 partners collaborate on the transition to a circular textile chain—with design as the driving force.

Project lead

ArtEZ - Elise van der Laan

Research groups

ArtEZ Professorship of Art Education
ArtEZ Professorship of Fashion
ArtEZ Professorship of Tactical Design
AUAS Professorship of Research Fashion & Identity

Partners

Funding

CLICKNL