Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Approximately half of the 2.8 billion items of clothing that entered the apparel market in Japan in 2017 remain unsold, which brings the excessive supply into question. On the other hand, many people own a large amount of clothes, indicating the level of consumption is already high. It is estimated that there are approximately 100 items of clothing per person in Japan that are hardly worn. Various solutions have been suggested to address this situation, including clothing rental as a counterpoint to so-called fast fashion. The spread of the sharing economy, which is one form of the circular economy, has been promoted by the development of information and communication technology and the spread of smartphones. Clothing rental can lead to the effective use of clothing resources, and is an example of the sharing economy. However, the clothing rental sector’s degree of contribution to the sustainability of the apparel industry is likely to change significantly. For example, discarding clothing that has been rented once does not lead to the effective usage of resources. Therefore, as the first step for the improvement of the sustainability of the apparel industry, we analyze the rental business model of the apparel industry in Japan from the viewpoint of sustainability using interviews.