Uniqlo Edinburgh: Repair, renew, recycle: how the Japanese store fixed my motheaten jumper

Sashiko at Uniqlo's Re.Studio

Now that Scotland’s only branch of Uniqlo has been open for over two months, I’ve managed to explore most corners of the Edinburgh Princes Street store.

The only area to evade me thus far is the Re.Uniqlo studio, which is up on the first floor.

This useful space is the sixth of these offerings in the UK, with the first launching in the London Regent Street store in 2022.

Re.Uniqlo Studio in Edinburgh Pic: John Need

It’s unique because, not only does it do alterations – free on trousers priced £19.90 or above – they also take donations of clothing so they can redistribute to others who need them, and recycle well-loved pieces.

They can also breathe new life into old Uniqlo items, with a repair and remake service. That might involve sashiko (a Japanese style of embroidery, involving stitches or patches) or other customisations. Beside the counter, there are rails of one-off pieces that they’ve upcycled, with colourful prints and designs, all waiting for new owners.

I’m visiting for the repair service, as I have a rather embarrassingly moth-eaten Uniqlo cashmere sweater that’s on its last legs.

I didn’t realise quite how badly damaged it was, until I took it out of my bag and presented it to the in store tailoring expert Allyssa Agra.

I’m relieved when she doesn’t look horrified. She decides to do some invisible mending on the smaller holes, which costs around £2 per hole, and a 50p sized one on the sleeve can be repaired with a felt patch or darning (prices start from £15).

I go for the visible darning option. She lets me choose the colour, and I opt for a bright orange - the same shade as the robes of the Buddhist monks who are currently hanging out in their inhouse Katsute100 cafe.

When I return three days later, I’m wowed by the results. It’s pristine. Agra has also de-bobbled it, the holes have vanished and there’s a beautiful round sun-coloured patch on the sleeve.

As it’s now the weekend, there are other people in the queue – one of them has done their own drawing of a cat on their iPad, and is having that transferred onto a t-shirt. It won’t take long. Just an hour or so, so they wait in the cafe. Other customers are getting simple repairs done. Among other everyday jobs, they can fix seams, replace buttons on shirts, and add holes to belts and bag straps, all for minimal cost. It seems word has got out about this service.

During their opening month, this space offered embroidered banana bags, with Irn-Bru designs on them, which were a complete sell out.

On counter, they also have a book that features a range of off-the-peg embroidery choices, like different pressed flowers to match each month, or Japanese calligraphy, bespoke for the Edinburgh store, at £12 per design. There are the colourful kanji for words like love and Zen. Agra tells me that siblings recently came into the shop, and one of them got the characters for older sister while the other got younger sister.

Apparently, the characters for “nothing lasts forever” have been very popular.

That sentiment may be true, but some things can certainly last a bit longer, thanks to this sustainable service.

Uniqlo, 64 Princes Street, Edinburgh, www.uniqlo.com