What is an example of one of Japan’s circular apparel brands?

Rename is a Japanese brand that is motivated to reduce excess inventory in the apparel industry. In Japan, 94,000 tons of unsold clothing are discarded each year. One of the reasons for this inventory waste is that fashion brands can’t sell their products at a lower price for fear of damaging their brand value.

To overcome this setback, Rename decided to relabel these unsold products. By removing the original tags and replacing them with “Rename” tags, Rename sells unsold products 30-80% cheaper than the original prices. Relabelling helps customers to look at these unsold products from an unbiased perspective, simply focusing on the quality of clothing instead of the popularity of the brands. Moreover, relabelling also helps items stay on the market across seasons, giving them more chances to be sold.

Rename’s products can be found at its online shop and at many brick-and-mortar stores in Japan. They have sold more than 400,000 items since their launch in 2016.