ABSTRACT
Laundering is usually considered to be just washing clothes whereas it also includes: air-drying, electric tumble drying, dry-cleaning and pressing or ironing. Prior to World War II, a large part of the population was involved with manual labour often relating to agriculture. Clothes were a source of warmth and protection. Mending seems to be a skill that has all but disappeared. Currently, the culture of mending is the domain of radical crafters and fashion theorists. Local Wisdom is an on-going project that explores the 'Craft of Use' and offers a vision of a new type of prosperity in fashion that is not based on buying and selling more garments. Understandably, designers focusing on ethical issues in the supply chain engage with the environmental impact of the fabrication, or labour rights, or even both. The knowledge and politics of the wearer are mostly bound up in the wearing of a garment.
