La Trame Repair Club Textile, a free textile repair event.

Offer a regular, free textile repair workshop for residents of Lausanne to teach them how to extend the life of their clothes while fostering social connections.

Through this regular textile repair session, we aim to empower Lausanne residents to reclaim textile repair skills so they can extend the life of their clothes. Knowing how to repair clothes oneself fosters an awareness of the work involved in textile manufacturing and helps shift perspectives on textile consumption. Having the opportunity to meet regularly and free of charge to carry out these repairs will facilitate numerous exchanges among participants and foster the creation of a community centered around this topic. The idea is not to offer a service, but rather to provide a gathering where participants can learn tips, reclaim traditional knowledge, and share their textile experiences while contributing to a local solution for reducing the negative impact of textile production. This regular gathering is envisioned as an intergenerational and intercultural event fostering dialogue among retirees, young parents, the unemployed, migrants, young people concerned about the future of the planet, and others. It’s an opportunity not only to care for what we already have and contribute to the ecological transition toward a system that is more respectful of the environment and all living beings, but also to nurture social connections by spending a friendly, convivial time exchanging ideas around textile repair.

While there are many one-off Repair Cafés in Lausanne, there is no regular program dedicated to textile repair. We aim to offer a free, regular gathering totaling ten hours per month (spread over one morning per week and one weekend session on a Saturday each month). Each workshop will be prepared and led by volunteer professionals in sewing and textiles to encourage participants to repair and/or alter their clothing with the goal of extending its lifespan. Whether sewing on a patch, embroidering over a hole, or performing any other textile repair, everyone can do their part to combat the ecological disaster caused by today’s overproduction and overconsumption of textiles—all while fostering social connections! The Trame Repair Club Textile will also serve as a gathering place for sharing knowledge and may feature lectures and special presentations on the topic of textile repair. As a gathering place for the Lausanne textile community, we’ve already hosted various repair workshops at our space—including classes on mending knitted projects and repairing clothing—which have been met with great enthusiasm. However, having to pay for a class prevents some people from accessing these techniques and the materials needed to carry them out. By offering a regular, free textile repair session to Lausanne residents, we can give everyone the same opportunity to participate in a form of degrowth by valuing and caring for existing textiles, thereby combating overconsumption and fast fashion. We regularly have customers looking for ways to make their clothes last as long as possible through various repairs. Being able to offer them the chance to learn how to do this themselves during these regular sessions will meet their needs. The Trame Repair Club Textile will gradually help build a community around this issue so that we can work together to find solutions to the problem of textile waste, which affects us all.

La Trame, 3 Rue de la Tour, Lausanne Neighborhoods: Center / Vinet-Pontaise as well as all residents of Lausanne (La Trame is ideally located a 3-minute walk from the Riponne and easily accessible to everyone.)