Hi, I’m Tessa AKA Tessathedresser, I live with my family in north London, and I’m part of a growing movement of creative professionals challenging a culture of over-production, over-consumption and throw-away trends in the fashion industry. I have chosen to do this through Visible Mending

My love of fashion started with my Mum. She was designing and making her own clothes by the age of 14 and made most of my clothes when I was growing up. I was brought up with an understanding of the time, the care, the materials required for making a piece of clothing and as a result valuing and caring for them properly. In my early teens I spent my weekends in jumble sales and charity shops looking for unique pieces of clothing to create my own looks and find quality items at a price I could afford. I love a one-of-a-kind find. If they were ripped, damaged or a weird fit, I would mend and alter them. 

After studying fashion and getting my degree in Fashion Design and Marketing I have worked in fashion for over 25 years, taking on a variety of roles from stylist, shoot producer, photographers’ agent and magazine managing editor. 

And then Fashion Revolution, Lucy Siegle, Andrew Brookes and a number of other prominent, urgent voices of change in the industry  led me to take a course in Sustainable Business Management at CISL, from which I focused my attention on the role of re-use and repair in extending the life of clothes and a circular fashion system.  I circled back to where I started as a teenager and restocked my mending supplies.

I love the challenge of bringing an item back to life, both from a creative and technical point of view. I am continually learning, and every mend adds to my skills and knowledge. 

My ambition is to see brands embrace extended producer responsibilty and incorporate repair and re-use into their design process. I want repair to be accessible and affordable to all citizens. A process which I believe starts with one stitch and one hole at a time.