On Mending
On Mending
Celia Pym's exploration of damage and repair in textiles — written by a practising artist, trained nurse, and Royal College of Art lecturer whose mending work spans personal garments to museum archives — sits naturally alongside Socko's own repair-first philosophy.
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There is a reason Socko stocks a book about mending. The same logic that puts a darning kit in every pair of socks — that things worth having are worth keeping — runs through every page of Celia Pym's On Mending.
Pym has been working with damaged textiles since 2007, and what makes her perspective unusual is the double lens she brings to it. She trained as a nurse before completing an MA in Constructed Textiles at the Royal College of Art in London, and that combination — clinical attention to how bodies heal alongside a maker's understanding of how cloth fails — gives this book a depth that a straightforward craft manual never could.
The central idea is deceptively simple: the language of mending and the language of bodily recovery are the same language. Bones knit. Wounds close. Cloth darns. Pym follows that thread carefully, documenting the intimate damage that everyday use inflicts on clothing — moth holes, thinning at the elbow, accidental scorching — and drawing out the parallels with how bodies wear and recover over time.
This is not a how-to guide, though it will change how you think about the garments you reach for. It is an argument, made quietly and with great care, that repair is not a lesser act than making new. Darning, Pym writes, is "small acts of care" and "paying close attention" — and that framing shifts the whole conversation.
Pym's practice spans personal garments brought to her by individuals and items held in museum archives, which means the stories here range from the deeply private to the historically significant. Her recent exhibitions include Waste Age at the Design Museum London (2021), On Happiness at the Wellcome Collection London (2021), and Eternally Yours at Somerset House London (2022). She was shortlisted for both the Woman's Hour Craft Prize and the inaugural Loewe Craft Prize in 2017, and she is currently an Associate Lecturer in Textiles at the Royal College of Art.
Key details:
- Author: Celia Pym
- Subject: Textile mending, repair culture, the relationship between cloth and body
- Author background: BA Visual and Environmental Studies, Harvard University; MA Constructed Textiles, Royal College of Art; trained nurse
- Format: Book
- Published by: Socko stocks this title as a direct extension of its repair-first ethos
About Our Brand Socko
Socko tackles the often-overlooked issue of textile waste within everyday essentials, specifically focusing on socks. In a world grappling with the environmental impact of fast fashion, Socko provides a solution for durable, comfortable footwear that actively diverts materials from landfill, offering a more responsible choice for consumers.
What truly sets Socko apart is their innovative material composition, which transforms discarded resources into high-performance products. Their socks are made from a blend of 50% pre-consumer garment cutting waste cotton, 33% polyester from recycled plastic bottles, and 17% ECONYL® regenerated nylon from fishing nets, ensuring both exceptional durability and comfort.
Beyond material innovation, Socko champions a repair culture, a tangible commitment to longevity that extends the life of their products. Every pair includes a mending kit and darning instructions, empowering customers to participate in reducing textile waste and fostering a more sustainable consumption behaviour.