Reworked Grandad’s shirt was featured in Vogue’s Best Street Style of London Fashion Week 2026 as part of Repair Week taking place between 2nd to 8th March.
Illustrator Elyse Blackshaw attended one of the many workshops organised by Re-London as part of Repair Week. Her Grandad, Alan’s much loved blue and red check shirt was originally bought from M&S over 20 years ago. Her Grandfather died in 2024, and Elyse brought the shirt along to a workshop organised by Re-London and KABO Clothing X Alterist.
With new eyelets at the end of the collar, and eyelets to turn it into a cross-over shirt, with safety pins giving the shirt more shape. Her whole outfit apart from the tights are second hand gifted items, from the T-shirt she stole from her sister, to the jacket gifted by her best friend, and shoes her boyfriend bought. Elyse said: “clothes have many stories, and everything has a connection.”
Elyse is one of many people attending repair workshop across London ahead of and during London Repair Week.
As in previous years, ReLondon is shining a spotlight on three London-based Repair Heroes during the week, and this year they are:
· Make Mee Studio – a Lewisham-based social enterprise, hosting sewing classes and community projects from their friendly sewing studio, including a repair hack on how to do blanket stich darning
· Community Cycleworks – a social enterprise on a mission to teach people bike repair skills, such as testing and fixing brakes
· Fixing Factory – tackling e-waste head-on with a mix of hands-on repair sessions including simple fixes such as changing a fuse
First launched in 2020 in London with just 20 events, Repair Week is now in its sixth year – with 2026 featuring its very own Scouts badge for the first time. And it’s not just the Scouts who are repairing more – the popularity of repairing has seen a significant revival and is on the rise, driven by concerns over the cost of living and what people feel is an increasingly “throwaway” culture. Repair Week’s new research found that people in the UK had repaired around 14 items each in the last year.
Katie Moriyama, campaign manager for Repair Week, said:
“We want to make fixing the norm, which is why we run Repair Week every year, making it easier for people to learn skills and access affordable, professional repair. From hands-on workshops with repair experts to online hacks, Repair Week is all about giving you the confidence to fix, mend, and make things last.”
