By Manish Puri
As the seasons change, it’s become something of a Sunday ritual for me to be paid a visit at home by Michael Norman (below).
Long-time readers may recall that Michael runs a dry cleaning business specialising in bespoke and high-end clothing. I’ve used his services for a few years now and would heartily recommend him. Cleaned knitwear is neatly folded and wrapped in tissue, suits returned on proper hangers and pressed so beautifully it seems a shame to wear them.
I look forward to Michael’s pick-ups and drop-offs. His knowledge and enthusiasm for caring for quality garments is clear, and he once gifted me a bag of conkers which he said was as effective a moth repellent as anything on the market.
So, I was intrigued when Michael informed me that he was setting up a second business called London Invisible Mending (LIM). I suspect I don’t need to tell you what LIM offers but, if you’re like me, you might need a little help understanding exactly what invisible mending is.
As long as people have worn clothes there have been ways to mend them – patching, darning and boro (above) are just some of the many techniques used to repair snags, tears and holes, but these are all visible forms of mending. Invisible mending (also known as French reweaving) is a way to repair and restore fabric without leaving a noticeable trace of the repair.
This is achieved by recreating the original weave (warp and weft) of the damaged fabric using individual threads harvested from the internal seams or hems of the garment. As you can imagine, trying to replicate the tension and thread placement of a machine weave is an incredibly time consuming, and hence expensive process.
For much of clothing’s history, that cost of repair was justifiable when compared to the cost of replacement. However, in recent times, with dramatic falls in the price of ready-to-wear and the increased use of synthetic fabrics (which can’t be repaired in this fashion because it’s almost impossible to extract individual fibres for repair) the art of invisible mending has slowly disappeared.
Even RAVEFabriCARE in Arizona – a large full-service cleaning company that has been recommended by Simon – has suspended its re-weaving service following the retirement of its weaver, until they can find a suitable replacement.
Somewhat ominously, they go on to speculate that “due to the age and cultural background of most skilled reweavers, the ‘golden age of reweaving’ may be over”.
It’s this shortage of skills that led to Michael leafing through his phone book – filled with the numbers of various garment care specialists accumulated over 30 years – and contacting two old colleagues to see if they still practised the technique. Happily, they did and lived around the outskirts of London, so London Invisible Mending was born.
I had a chance to experience the service after my favourite pair of charcoal flannel trousers fell victim to a heinous and unprovoked attack by a moth.
As the hole (above left) was on the inseam of the trousers, and therefore not especially noticeable, my first instinct was to get it cheaply (and visibly) repaired by a local tailor. The result (above right) was, frankly, something I could have done – a phrase I don’t use lightly, because when most people say that it’s usually patently untrue.
So, I handed over the trousers to Michael, and he and his team did a superb job (below). The herringbone pattern is slightly more prominent in the reweave, but (a) you have to look very very closely to see it, and (b) you’d have to know there was a repair made to try and find it in the first place.
Without that information, I think the reweave is virtually indistinguishable from the original cloth.
I chatted with Michael about invisible mending, any limitations and whether it always produces a good result.
“Around 75% of the repairs we make are due to moth holes so we always recommend people look at ways to deter moths as best as possible. If the damage is caused by a moth, we recommend that you dry clean the garment first because that can reveal smaller holes that aren’t initially visible – of course, we can clean it before repair.
“It’s important to say that invisible mending only works for woven fabrics – so it’s perfect for bespoke suits. I’ve had customers bring in their grandad’s Savile Row suit from the 1950s, and after a dry clean and invisible repair of the holes it looks brand new. The quality of some of the old stuff is remarkable.
“The repair isn’t always entirely invisible – but it’s as close as you’re going to get. For example, on superfine fabrics you might see the needle’s point of entry and exit. Also, as threads are taken from parts of the garment which aren’t exposed to UV light and wear, the colour might differ slightly. But on heavier weaves – like your trousers – or on patterned cloth it’s almost impossible to see.”
One of the beauties of Michael’s service is convenience. For example, the mending service most people know is British Invisible Mending Service, but they require drop-off at their Marylebone shop with cash-only payment upfront.
With London Invisible Mending you can either drop-off items at Graham Browne or have them collected and delivered anywhere across London (they offer a postal service for those outside the city) with the option to pay by card.
Obviously, the cost of repair can vary significantly but, to give readers some idea, a cigarette-sized hole costs from £90 to repair. A pretty reasonable fee considering it takes around six hours to fix, but perhaps not economically viable for cheaper garments. Turnaround times are approximately three weeks and LIM can provide a quote via WhatsApp if you share images of the damage.
“It’s shocking to see these old skills dying out,” says Michael. “I’d love it if places like the Savile Row Bespoke Academy taught invisible mending alongside pattern cutting and tailoring. After all, it’s all about preserving the integrity of the fabric”.
Manish is @the_daily_mirror on Instagram
You can contact London Invisible Mending via their website or on +447941155277.
Another option for invisible mending in London is The Valet – whose services we covered here.
For US readers, I’ve heard good things about the French American Reweaving Company in New York, but, as always, we’d welcome your recommendations.
