British-born actress and singer Jane Birkin, passed away at 76 yesterday in Paris. Famous for her romantic partnership with songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and their memorable collaboration on the iconic track "Je T'aime…moi non plus", she also became an inspiration for many fashionistas for the globally acclaimed Birkin handbag by Hermès.
Yet there is maybe another piece of news coming from France that may prove interesting for those who are into fashion (and textiles as well).
France recently introduced a new measure to combat waste by providing financial assistance for clothing and shoe repairs. From October people in France will be able to claim a "repair bonus" of €6 – €25 for fixing garments and accessories. The repair costs can be claimed back at participating workshops and cobblers and the repair bonus will be funded by a €154 million government fund dedicated to supporting repair initiatives over the next five years.
This initiative aims to reduce the estimated 715,000 tonnes of clothing (71 times the weight of the Eiffel Tower) discarded annually, with the majority ending up in landfills.
These measures are part of the government's environmental roadmap, announced by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne in May, as a comprehensive strategy to reduce waste and emissions across various economic sectors.
Bérangère Couillard, the secretary of state for ecology, announced the incentives during a visit to a responsible fashion hub in Paris. Couillard encouraged sewing workshops and shoemakers to join the scheme, emphasizing the goal of supporting repair services and potentially creating job opportunities. The scheme, that will be run by eco-friendly organization Refashion, aligns with broader efforts of the French government to reform the textile industry and address the environmental impact of fast fashion.
According to Refashion, over 100 billion textiles are sold each year, with the average person in France purchasing around 10.5 kilograms annually. Refashion's mission is to promote repair, reuse, and promoting a reduction in textile consumption. The organization also encourages people to donate unwanted textiles, since, as stated on its site, approximately 56% of donations can be reused, and 32% can be recycled into new products.
In addition to the repair bonus, clothing and textile shops must now have label items with the material used and country where they were produced and manufactured.
These measures are part of a comprehensive plan to promote waste reduction, resource conservation, and sustainability in the country: in 2016 France started with food waste, banning supermarkets from discarding unsold food. In 2020, building on the 2009-10 Grenelle laws, France passed the anti-waste and circular economy law (AGEC), outlining a roadmap until 2040. In 2022, public buildings (such as hospitals and schools) were required to install water fountains, while at the beginning of this year restaurants with more than 20 seats and fast-food establishments were banned from using disposable cutlery, plates, and cups for on-site meals.
Companies are now also obliged to be transparent about planned obsolescence and encouraged to disclose a "repairability index" indicating the ease or difficulty of repairing their products.
In the coming years, further restrictions will be implemented, targeting products containing microplastics (such as cosmetics, shampoos, hair dyes, and shower gels). Additionally, regulations on plastic packaging usage will be enforced.
While this may sound all good, the "make do and mend" scheme has been considered as controversial: the plan shifts indeed the responsibility mainly on consumers (if you think about it, also the limitations on single-use plastics lie on consumers).
It is true that many of us have lost basic skills to make simple repairs such as sewing a button on a shirt or a blouse, but, though laudable and though maintaining is definitely a trend at the moment in other fields and disciplines as well, repairing a few items will not save the world. The problem lies indeed somewhere else: many items do get thrown out because they fall out of fashion after a few months or because repairing would actually be more expensive than buying new ones. Let's think about Shein: the quality is so low, but its products are so cheap that replacing them is actually more convenient than spending time and money on having them repaired.
So, while encouraging users to get their items repaired is perfectly fine, governments should actually push companies (and in particular fast fashion companies) to act more responsibly and provide better quality products and offer repairing kits and repairs services. Local authorities working on finding innovative and alternative solutions to deal with textile waste could also receive incentives.
Besides, just like governments often offer fiscal incentives to buy electric scooters or change old cars and invest in electric vehicles, they could also offer the same incentives to buy a sewing or even a knitting machine for those who are keen on taking their repairing skills to the next level (a few years ago another scheme encouraged French people to fix their toasters or washing machines, rather than disposing them, so why not launching incentives to buy other types of small appliances?).
Furthermore, governments should also invest in educating people to recycle, mend and reuse in schools: teaching skills such as sewing, knitting, and crocheting can not only be practical and engaging for children, but it can also cultivate their manual dexterity and provide them with a fulfilling and relaxing hobby. Equally important is instilling in children the basic principles of environmental conservation, as this can contribute to the development of a more conscious and responsible society.
Last but not least, the French government may have involved some of the most famous French ateliers and fashion houses and conglomerates in a campaign to raise awareness and promote the power of repair and of kintsugi, turning the "make do and mend" slogan from World War II into a trendy and enjoyable concept. Repairing can indeed be therapeutic and people may take pride in repairing something if a fashion house or a designer they admired was involved in a dedicated campaign.
In 2021, the Conseil d'État (Council of State), France's highest administrative court, deemed the government's efforts "insufficient" and issued threats of sanctions and fines, determining that France was not progressing towards its emissions targets. In February of the same year, the court convicted the government for non-respect of its engagements in combating global warming and in October it instructed the French State to take immediate and concrete measures to combat climate change and to repair the damage caused by its inaction by 31 December 2022.
It will be interesting to see if there will be any sanctions issued for what regards textile waste and how consumers will react to the repair scheme come October. As we witness adverse climate events such as floods and the scorching temperatures currently affecting Southern Europe, it becomes evident that more radical changes are needed as soon as possible.
We are all called to do our part, but, to effectively address the complex challenges posed by climate change and prioritize the well-being of our planet, we will have to move beyond mere individual actions. The fashion industry will have to adopt a circular model, governments will have to provide the legal infrastructure to put pressure on the industry, supporting those companies that embrace sustainable practices and ethical and conscious consumption, while we will have to change our collective consumption habits and lifestyles. In a nutshell, while repairing is extremely important, it alone will not save the planet.
