Extend the life of your kit
The Legacy Project
A seven-branch initiative dedicated to rescuing, repairing, and reworking your outdoor kit - so it lasts longer and goes further
At Keela, sustainability isn’t just a buzzword - it’s a core value stitched into every garment we make. Since the 1980s, our Clothing Hospital has repairing kit within our UK factory. Whether your kit has seen one storm or a hundred, our team will do everything they can to bring it back to life - ready for your next adventure.
Now, building on that legacy and reinforcing our commitment to UK manufacturing and responsible production, we’ve launched the Legacy Project - a seven-branch initiative dedicated to extending the life of outdoor clothing and reducing its environmental footprint.
Through this project, we’ve identified seven key ways to rescue garments before they reach landfill - giving them a renewed purpose and extending their life.
Blueprint
One-of-a-kind, unique samples
At our core, we’re all about pushing boundaries - and a huge part of that comes from empowering our designers to explore bold, innovative ideas. Sometimes that means creating a completely new style, other times it’s experimenting with fresh fabrics, trims, or construction methods.
Not every concept makes it into our main collection, but that’s what makes these one-off pieces so special. Rather than sitting in our sample room, we've made these available for purchase, with each one tells its own unique story, offering something unlike anything else out there.
Archive
Classic, discontinued designs
We’ll admit it – sometimes we’re a bit of a hoarder. For every product we create, we keep a ‘gold seal’ sample to ensure we consistently produce the same high quality, time after time. But when we discontinue items, what happens to these precious gold seals? Well, we pack them up and tuck them away in our sample room!
However, we believe these pieces deserve more than a quiet life in storage - they belong out on the hills, where they can be put to good use. That’s why our Archive Collection gives you the chance to own some of our classic, older designs.
Second Life
Send your old gear back to us for repurposing, or try remaking it yourself!
Parting with a jacket you’ve had for 5, 10, or even 20 years can be tough. But when it’s reached the end of its life, that’s where ‘Second Life’ steps in. Send it back to us, and our team will repurpose its fabric into something new - like turning your old waterproof jacket into a gym bag!
If you're feeling creative, you can also get ideas and guidance to remake your gear at home. We have open source patterns, guides and videos available.
Clothing Hospital
We've been running our Clothing Hospital since the 1980s, right here at our UK headquarters - under the same roof as our design and sales teams.
While proper care can keep your kit going strong for years, sometimes wear and tear is just part of the adventure.
Whether your gear has braved one storm or a hundred, we’ll do everything we can to bring it back to life. We make kit worth repairing, not replacing - and with our Clothing Hospital on hand to keep it in action, your gear is built to last a lifetime, not end up in landfill after a season.
Deja Vu
Unique or refurbished versions of our classic designs
Occasionally, we receive items that can’t be sold as new -whether they’ve been marked in transit, lightly tried on, or repaired. But they’re still ready for the hills! We refurbish and repair whenever possible, making sure each item meets our high standards. This gives you the chance to grab a unique version of our classic designs or a refurbished item that works just like new, all backed by the Keela Guarantee.
Reclaim
Turning spare fabric into kit
Every so often, we find ourselves with a few spare rolls of fabric - sometimes from testing new materials, sometimes leftover from larger production runs, and sometimes it’s a rare find from a supplier that we just couldn’t say no to.
These rolls are usually only enough to make 20–50 pieces, and we think it would be a waste to let them sit unused. So, we’ve committed to putting them to work - whether that’s by giving existing designs a fresh twist or creating something entirely new.
These limited-run pieces let us experiment, get creative, and have a bit of fun -so we hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy making them.
Recycle
A Thoughtful Goodbye for Well-Worn Gear
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, a piece of kit has simply been loved beyond repair or repurposing. But even then, it doesn’t have to end its journey in landfill.
Send your item to us, and it will join our recycling programme. We collect and forward these well-worn pieces to our recycling partner, where they’re shredded and transformed into insulation - or occasionally, something entirely new. It’s a more respectful send-off for a jacket that’s been through it all.
As a thank you, you’ll receive a discount code when you send your item in - our way of helping you gear up for your next adventure.
Coming later in 2025 – check back later for the addition of our ‘recycle with retailers’ programme!
SUSTAINABILITY BRAND OF THE YEAR
TGO MAGAZINE AWARDS
We were thrilled to be named the Sustainability Brand of the Year for our Legacy Project at the TGO Magazine Awards.