CEO of Primark Netherlands talks the retailer's repair service and the strategy behind it

Towards the end of 2022, Primark Netherlands hosted repair workshops at the retailer’s store in Rotterdam, where customers could learn to sew on a button and replace a zip. Ellen Haeser, teacher and owner of trend agency Studio Haeser, hosted the workshop with the support of students from Zadkine fashion training courses. Such an initiative at a brand like Primark is likely to raise questions among some consumers. After all, the Irish fashion chain, which is part of Associated British Foods (ABF), has not always been well received in the past on the issues covered within its sustainability framework. For example, think back to the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013 and a label that was sewn into a Primark garment with a cry for help in 2014.