[Themaintainers] Right to repair and textiles — pointers on existing work?

[Kyle Wiens]

Our focus so far has been products with microchips of some kind. Tractors are included, but (for example) mechanical watches and textiles are not.

Right to repair in the US has been focused on equal access to parts, tools, and information. That's less relevant for textiles (although zippers and other parts are important, and legislation to guarantee access would be meaningful).

Design would be interesting—I've taught a number of repairable design workshops to textile designers and gotten positive feedback. We have quite a lot of textile repair information on iFixit, and our partnership with Patagonia has been impactful.

https://ifixit.com/Patagonia

https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Basic_Sewing

Cheers,
Kyle Wiens
iFixit CEO
@kwiens

On Thu, Aug 13, 2026 at 6:07 AM, Kobiljski Aleksandra < aleksandra.kobiljski at ehess.fr > wrote:

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> Dear Maintainers,
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> I'm currently working on a piece examining how the EU's 2024 Right to
> Repair Directive excluded textiles from its scope, and I'm trying to map
> the wider landscape of right-to-repair scholarship and advocacy before
> finishing the argument.
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> I'm far less familiar with the US side of this movement and its history
> but my impression so far is that textile and garments repair did not loom
> large; the movement has centered largely on tractors (the John Deere
> fight) and electronics (Apple, and related FTC action).
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> If I'm missing relevant work - where right to repair has intersected with
> textiles specifically - I would very much appreciate pointers.
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> Many thanks in advance,
> Aleksandra Kobiljski
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> CNRS, France
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