Zip replacement

[BookShark]

Any advice welcome!

DS has school tracksuit bottoms with zipped pockets, which he generally stuffs with all kinds of rubbish. Unfortunately, the design seems to have been changed slightly, and the pockets are smaller, so he's managed to break the zip on the first wear - on two pairs of trousers. The zipper has just burst so it's now only attached on one side of the zip.

I don't think I can replace the zip myself - it's embedded in the pocket so unless I've misunderstood, would mean dissecting the whole pocket area. I was wondering about sewing on press studs as an alternative. Would that maybe work, or is there a better solution? The trousers have the school crest on them, so I can't just buy a different style.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. We've already nearly lost several items as a result - fortunately a nice lady on the bus spotted his earphones case as he got off, and his wallet/bus pass ended up in the footwell of my car. But that's just luck, and as I can't convince him to stop using the pockets, I need a more secure closure method. Help!!

Oops, that was long.

TLDR - what's an easy pocket fastening instead of a zip?

Ideally a new zip, with bigger pocket bags, but it is a fiddly alteration/repair. Velcro would be easy to stitch on, & be secure.

Velcro on inside of pocket? I don’t think poppers would get done up ( too fiddly) but Velcro should catch immediately. I hope you understand my sketch.

Thanks. I thought Velcro too but was overruled by DS (14, so clearly too old for Velcro - but not, apparently, to judge how much you can fit in one pocket).

Maybe I'll try both and see which works better! I agree, new zip and bigger pockets would be ideal, but I think the zip bit is beyond my limited skills.