In the 21st century, consumerism and fast fashion got woven in the fabric of our culture. With the costs of clothing going down, we stopped valuing the art and craft of fashion making and often forget about the amount of natural resources that go into the garment production. Fashion industry became one of the most polluting, labour-intense and wasteful industries in the world. Working towards increasing the active life of the garments offers a significant opportunity in driving the industry towards sustainability. However, to achieve this, we need a cultural shift! Dr. Monika Hauck shares a personal story of how she lost and then regained passion and meaning in the fashion industry and contemplates why repairing clothes has a deep connection to our history, culture, mental well-being and the prosperity of local economies. Social activist, entrepreneur, and open innovation researcher – Dr. Monika Hauck is the founder of Change Room, a knowledge and community platform, which connects sustainably driven fashion entrepreneurs and innovators with conscious consumers as well as established businesses. She is a strong proponent of sustainable and inclusive entrepreneurship and is a City Ambassador of a British social enterprise Fashion Revolution. Born and raised in Lithuania, she experienced the breakdown of the Soviet Union and could observe the effects that communism system had on the popular culture as well as societal relation to fashion and crafts. Monika stated traveling the world at the age of fifteen working as an international fashion model. Now, after ten years of a break and a Ph.D. in Innovation Management, she returned to the fashion industry with a purpose to promote more sustainable and inclusive fashion production and consumption practice. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx