Words: Lara Pacillo // Photos: Mend
In the traditional Japanese art form of Kintsugi, broken pottery is repaired using lacquer mixed with powdered gold or other precious metals. This technique creates visible golden lines that celebrate the beauty of imperfection and highlights the fractures as a part of the object’s history. Art director and stylist Bing Rowland admires this concept, and likens it to the practice of visible garment mending.
“There’s so many ways to restore garments to look like there never was a hole, but just like using gold on a cracked vase, you get to celebrate the journey that it’s been on,” she explains. “Using the most garish contrasting thread to fix something – that kind of mending has the same philosophy. This is an art piece really.”
Bing, who owns clothing and homewares label Good Studios, is joined by urban planner and quilt maker Julia Thomson where they incorporate this practice as one of the key techniques in their mending circles. As Sunday afternoon sessions, Bing and Julia have so far held two Mend circles at Ensemble Studios in the Adelaide Hills and Brid café in Piccadilly, with the first city session to take place at KIKI Studio on Sunday June 18.
Bringing worn garments, embroidery, or knitting projects, people in their early 20s through to their 70s come together to mend while sharing conversation, local wine, and homemade cake. There are no strings attached and no criteria, where inspiration is fostered, and friendships are formed within the organic and casual space.
“We never want someone to feel like they can’t just walk in off the street with a hole in their jumper and learn by the end of a couple of hours how to mend it and mend it well,” Bing says.
“I think it’s a sort of a myth that it’s this acquired thing, you can literally sit down and learn in an hour, and we’re constantly still learning.
“I’m not a master of sewing, but I just know enough to get me by. And even if it’s not perfect, at least it’s fixed.”
With a mutual love for restoration, low waste, and building a sense of community, Bing and Julia note the obvious benefits of the Mend circles are environmental.
Julia says a statistic she often comes across and finds haunting is that there is enough clothing in the world to clothe the next six generations.
“We all know the fashion industry is a huge contributor to waste especially fast fashion. Charity stores are being overrun by clothes that they can’t sell that are poor quality.
“We have the ability to treasure clothing, invest in it, and to keep it looking good and wearable for many years and even generations.”
Restoring garments gives them a story, Bing explains, and the mends celebrate memories in the pieces.
“You’re invested in the longevity of it, because you personally have spent time bringing it back to life. You’re not just going to throw it away if it gets another hole.
“It creates sort of inherent value in our garments, that I think can only be beneficial because it has a trickle-down effect where it makes you think about the way you’re consuming in every aspect. If you invest time and love in your clothes, you can’t help but do that in other parts of your life.”
With Julia moving to Adelaide from the UK recently, Mend is also an opportunity to meet like-minded people in a friendly, welcoming, open environment. The Mend circles embody a “village mentality” of connection, mutual support and sharing. It’s not a new concept at all, Bing says, but it’s something that is being lost in today’s society.
“I think that’s probably a big reason why when we do come together, it feels like a coming home of sorts, because it’s almost primitive in a way. It’s a really beautiful thing to just be with people fixing and I guess value adding to their lives.
“That social element of it – to engage in lots of laughter and deep conversation – is just the by-product of really great people coming together.”
While it’s still early days, Bing and Julia have big plans for their mending circles. They envision establishing these groups in towns and cities across the country, particularly in schools. They see the circles as therapeutic spaces, where people can freely express themselves, unpack complex emotions, and come together to heal communities and garments too.
“The first time you mend something, it might fall apart again. But it’s sort of like you’re invested now. You’re confident and you’re invested.
“You’re creating a really beautiful narrative in your life about how you want to spend your time and how you want to tread the earth and it’s empowering.”
Mend: Sunday June 18 // KIKI Studio 89D Goodwood Road, Goodwood 5063
