Jean Shop Founder Eric Goldstein wants to keep you in your favorite jeans. The industry veteran, along with co-founder and wife, Jill Goldstein, have launched Denimrepair.com, an online one-stop-shop for fast and affordable denim repair.
Demand for a denim repair shop became evident when Goldstein opened his iconic Jean Shop in New York City and fielded repair requests from customers, even for products outside of the store’s wheelhouse.
“People really do have an emotional attachment to their jeans,” Jill Goldstein said. “That’s the focus of our business, to sort of maintain that relationship that someone has with their jeans. Instead of throwing them out or giving a patch, we’re making them look like they did before.”
Denimrepair.com aims to simplify the repair process. Customers select the repair option they would like to purchase, print out a confirmation and mail it with the jeans. Jeans are repaired in approximately two weeks by Kansas City, Mo.-based tailor, Bruce Gershon, who has been in the business for over 40 years. “[These] seamstresses are the best in the industry,” Eric Goldstein said of Gershon’s team.
Repair services are offered for pocket bags, zippers, hems, holes, rivets, buttons, back pockets, belt loops and more. Denimrepair.com will also taper jeans or take in waists, re-dye black jeans and offers washing and dry cleaning service. Services start at $10 for replacement shanks, buttons and rivets, and goes up to $60 for replacement pocket bags.
The company can also help with cosmetic enhancements. Distressed denim remains trendy but Goldstein noted that there is a limit to the level of wear even the most fashion-forward are willing to sport in public. “[Customers] want to keep the holes but they’ve become so big, they’re not wearable,” Jill Goldstein said. “So, we can keep the holes but make them smaller, narrower so they’re more functional and more wearable.”
Most of the repairs the company sees take place on rigid fabric, which Goldstein attributes to the durability of four-way-stretch. Still, the repair shop keeps stretch yarn on hand for the occasional repair.
The most common repair? The crotch for both men and women. Instead of patching the jean, Denimrepair.com makes them whole again through the help of a 1940’s Darning machine—one of only 40 in the U.S., Eric Goldstein reported.
“It’s uncomfortable wearing a patch,” Jill Goldstein said. “With ours, it’s hard to detect that there was a repair done—it’s the most natural way of repairing the jean.”