About Gay Bennett
Gay Bennett is a repair artist, mentor, and workshop facilitator based in Nottingham, working under the name Lived-In Repairs. With over twenty years spent on the good side of the fashion industry, she has built a livelihood around extending the life of the clothes we already own, drawing on Sashiko, Boro-inspired stitching, and visible mending.
Her work sits at the intersection of slow fashion, traditional hand-stitching, and creative entrepreneurship. Through one-to-one mentoring, her Sew Flow workshops, brand partnerships, and a long-held love of vintage clothing, Gay champions a way of making and wearing that is rooted in care, skill, and personal meaning rather than trends. Alongside her repair practice, Gay mentors other repair artists and creative practitioners navigating the realities of pricing, visibility, and building a life around their craft. Her guiding belief is simple: worn out does not mean worthless.
Her vibrant mixed-media creations, often crafted using recycled materials, are both visually striking and rooted in sustainability. Each piece tells a story—layered with culture, identity, and innovation.