Sojo

Illustration of Sojo app's step-by-step / Source: Sojo

EuropeTextiles

4 MINUTE READ

Sophie Benson

WHAT WE SAY:

The rise of fast fashion means it has become cheaper to replace clothes than repair them, so basic sewing skills have fallen out of favour. However, this constant churn of new clothes is unsustainable, given most of fashion’s impact happens at the production stage.

Enter Sojo – an app which provides easy access to repairs and alterations. It replaces the charity shop – or worse, the bin – as the first port of call when a garment is damaged or ill-fitting. Right now it’s a mere seedling, limited to Central London. But its partnership model is intriguing, and we would love to see it kickstart the repair revolution at scale.

KEY FACTS:

Sojo is the UK’s first repairs and alterations app, connecting users to local sewing professionals.
The service takes three to five days and garments are collected and returned via bike.
Prices are set by each seamster, however, they generally range between GPB 12-40 (USD 16-55), comparable to the price of a new garment from a value retailer.
Sojo also offers its services via partnerships, including as a paid service in vintage clothing retailer Beyond Retro’s London shops, and as a free option for Ganni’s London-based customers via its website.

Sojo tailor repairing a garment / Source: Sojo

Sojo packaging / Source: Sojo

DIVE DEEPER:

60% of people are unable to replace a button on an item of clothing and 31% of people are more likely to replace a garment than to repair it. In the list of reasons for disposing of garments, changes in appearance – such as holes or tears – come first, while size and fit issues come second.
Extending the active life of a garment by an extra nine months can reduce its waste, water and carbon footprint by 22-33% and would save GBP 5 billion (USD 6.1 billion) in resources used to supply, launder and dispose of clothing.
Founded in 2020 and launched in 2021, Sojo is a single answer to multiple problems – offering people without sewing skills easy access to repair, reinstating the appearance of clothing and tailoring items to fit as necessary.
Sojo uses an app to connect customers with local seamsters. Customers add their alterations and repairs to their basket using a drop-down list and their order is collected, fulfilled and returned by bike within three to five days.
The London-based company works with a network of sewing professionals and takes a commission of 30% from all orders.
Currently, the company operates in zones one and two of London, the most central areas of the city. It plans to expand to the whole city before branching out into other locations within the UK.
In April 2020, Sojo raised USD 2.4 million in a pre-seed funding round, with its angel investors including the founder of Depop and the vice president of menswear at Tom Ford.
As well as Sojo’s partnership with Beyond Retro and GANNI as mentioned above, the brand also provided an alteration station for rental brand HURR at a December 2021 pop-up, as well as offering discounted repairs and alterations to customers of Prochaine, a sustainable marketplace. Sojo aims to use its funding to scale its B2B partner offering.

"We're on a mission to make fashion circular."

Sojo

Key Design Considerations:

Long-term value

There’s a reason why sewing is becoming a lost skill – because synthetic materials have made clothes so cheap that it simply isn’t worth it to repair many garments. In this light, Sojo’s partnerships with premium brands and vintage shops makes a lot of sense. Could you embed a similar model, where offering repairs and alterations helps customers look past headline ‘expensive’ purchases and visualise longer-term value?

Make it easy

As a designer, you can play your part in helping expand the volume of repairs. Generous seam allowances, standard stitch types and modular or removable fastenings remove friction from the repairs and alterations process, reducing the labour intensity and, therefore, cost to customers.

Alterations still require knowledge

Getting the correct fit from an alteration relies on accurate measurements. Sojo navigates this with how-to-measure videos. An in-store drop-off and measurement service may have the dual effect of raising customer awareness around alterations, as well as increasing confidence in their accuracy.

End-to-end sustainability

Alongside the bigger systems thinking that underpins Sojo’s mission, we also love how the brand sweats the details – from bike delivery to packaging made from natural materials. How can you design the entire experience to reinforce your overall brand narrative?

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Sojo

WHAT WE SAY:

The rise of fast fashion means it has become cheaper to replace clothes than repair them, so basic sewing skills have fallen out of favour. However, this constant churn of new clothes is unsustainable, given most of fashion’s impact happens at the production stage.

KEY FACTS:

DIVE DEEPER:

60% of people are unable to replace a button on an item of clothing and 31% of people are more likely to replace a garment than to repair it. In the list of reasons for disposing of garments, changes in appearance – such as holes or tears – come first, while size and fit issues come second.

Extending the active life of a garment by an extra nine months can reduce its waste, water and carbon footprint by 22-33% and would save GBP 5 billion (USD 6.1 billion) in resources used to supply, launder and dispose of clothing.

Founded in 2020 and launched in 2021, Sojo is a single answer to multiple problems – offering people without sewing skills easy access to repair, reinstating the appearance of clothing and tailoring items to fit as necessary.

Sojo uses an app to connect customers with local seamsters. Customers add their alterations and repairs to their basket using a drop-down list and their order is collected, fulfilled and returned by bike within three to five days.

The London-based company works with a network of sewing professionals and takes a commission of 30% from all orders.

Currently, the company operates in zones one and two of London, the most central areas of the city. It plans to expand to the whole city before branching out into other locations within the UK.

In April 2020, Sojo raised USD 2.4 million in a pre-seed funding round, with its angel investors including the founder of Depop and the vice president of menswear at Tom Ford.

Sojo

Key Design Considerations:

Long-term value

Make it easy

Alterations still require knowledge

End-to-end sustainability

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