Peak Climate Derangement Syndrome?! No packing necessary — Japan Airlines’ pushes ‘rental clothes’ to travelers at their destination ‘to reduce the weight of baggage & reduce carbon emissions’
Excerpt: You can finally fly with (almost) no clothes
Illustration: Millie von Platen
The grim environmental effects of flying were weighing on Miho Moriya. “I love to travel but also felt guilty about using flights that produce CO2,” says the 40-year-old accountant based in Japan. So when her employer, Japanese trading house Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., held its annual entrepreneurship competition in 2019, she pitched an idea that could make a tiny dent: a clothing-rental service for travelers. Instead of flyers hauling luggage—the weight adding to a plane’s carbon emissions—they could borrow clothes on the ground.
The idea became Any Wear, Anywhere, part of a venture between Sumitomo and Japan Airlines Co. Travelers arriving in Japan can now rent clothing for as little as $31 for up to two weeks, delivered to their hotel. The online service, more for the utilitarian-minded than the fashionista, rents sets—including perhaps three pairs of pants, three tops and a couple of jackets—all secondhand or sourced from overstock to keep with the eco-friendly vibe. It offers seven size options for adults and nine for children, with sweaters and jeans for winter and shorts and T-shirts for summer.
The service is currently available only in Japan, which happens to be enjoying a tourism boom. But traveling entirely suitcase-free is still just an aspiration: Shoes, underwear, PJs and toiletries aren’t yet part of the pitch. Moriya, who left her job in accounting to help operate Any Wear, Anywhere as its project leader, says going green feels good, but traveling without carrying luggage is even better. “My ultimate dream,” she says, “is making it possible to travel anywhere in the world hands-free.” —Supriya Singh
Japan Airlines has teamed up with Sumitomo Corporation to launch a trial of a clothing sharing service, which is called “Any Wear, Anywhere.” The idea is that foreign tourists and business travelers landing in Japan on JAL will be able to rent clothes for their trip, meaning they just have to bring their underwear and socks.
Here’s how JAL describes the concept behind this service:
With more and more people flying again after the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the recent emphasis in sustainability, there is a growing movement around the world to promote sustainable tourism. Travelers increasingly desire to make more sustainable choices regarding their travel destinations, accommodations, transportation, etc., they still lack sufficient options. For example, most travelers now enjoy eating at restaurants and staying at hotels at their destination, but they generally bring their own clothing from home.
The concept of the Service is therefore to provide a travel experience with minimal luggage by offering clothing rentals at the destination, thereby creating environmental value. By expanding the use of the Service, we aim to create an environment where travelers can use local options for all aspects of their clothing, food, and accommodation, transforming travel and business trips into more sustainable experiences. In providing the Service, Sumitomo Corporation will be responsible for developing the reservation system as well as for the procurement, laundering, and delivery of clothes. All clothing items available for rent will be obtained from excess stock of apparel and pre-owned clothing, thereby promoting the concept of a circular economy. JAL will monitor changes in passengers’ checked-in baggage weight and verify the reduction effect of carbon dioxide emissions by reduced airplane weight due to use of the Service.
You can reserve your clothes online prior to your trip, selecting the clothing set that best suits the season and purpose of your visit
You’ll need to enter your Japan Airlines booking reference, the date of pickup and return, and information about your destination where you intend to pick up and drop off your clothing set; you’ll need to make a payment in advance, and reserve your clothes at least one month prior to your trip
You’ll then fly Japan Airlines to Japan with less baggage, and can pick up and return your clothing set at the hotel; the return date for clothes must be within two weeks
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Here’s how it works:
You can reserve your clothes online prior to your trip, selecting the clothing set that best suits the season and purpose of your visit
You’ll need to enter your Japan Airlines booking reference, the date of pickup and return, and information about your destination where you intend to pick up and drop off your clothing set; you’ll need to make a payment in advance, and reserve your clothes at least one month prior to your trip
You’ll then fly Japan Airlines to Japan with less baggage, and can pick up and return your clothing set at the hotel; the return date for clothes must be within two weeks
How JAL’s shared clothing service works
Looking at the selection, there are a variety of categories, including choosing casual or smart casual, selecting summer, winter, or spring/fall, and picking how many tops and bottoms you want. Pricing per collection is ¥5,000-7000 (~$35-50), and that includes the cost of shipping.
Japan Airlines shared clothing selectionJapan Airlines shared clothing selection
Ben Schlappig comments: Is this clothes sharing concept brilliant or silly?
While it’s great that sustainability is a more important topic in the airline industry nowadays, personally this seems to me like an initiative where the juice isn’t worth the squeeze, so to speak.
First there are the complicated logistics. You have to request these outfits at least a month in advance, and can only rent them for periods of two weeks. Furthermore, while you can select a clothing set in advance, it’s anyone’s guess if they end up fitting right, or what they actually look like on you. Never mind the potential risk of irregular operations, leaving you stranded at another airport without a change of clothes.
I understand where the initiative is coming from, in the sense that carrying extra weight on planes burns a bit more fuel. But honestly, how much could these clothing sets really weigh? The biggest set has nine pieces of clothing, so does that maybe weigh 10 pounds? Let’s say 5% of people on a Japan Airlines Boeing 787-8 use this service (that number seems way too high, but let’s just pretend). That would mean nine people use the service, and that’s a weight reduction of 90 pounds, on a plane with a maximum takeoff weight of over 500,000 pounds. What kind of fuel savings are we talking about here — a couple of liters of gas?
Maybe I’m in the minority, but I just don’t see how this concept makes sense. And that doesn’t even account for the concept of having to wear clothing styles you wouldn’t necessarily otherwise want to wear at home. Heck, next time I go to Japan, maybe I’ll just take the JAL pajamas off the plane and wear those for my whole trip.
Bottom line
Japan Airlines is trialing a new concept whereby you can rent clothes for your trip to Japan in advance. You can choose based on how many pieces you want, and the clothes will be delivered to your hotel. This is intended as an environmental initiative, so that you can travel lighter, reducing the amount of luggage you have (and in turn, reducing aircraft fuel burn ever-so-slightly).
While this is a unique concept, I don’t see it gaining much traction.
One of the most stressful things about traveling is having to pack. But what if all you had to do was book your flight and the packing part — choosing, organizing, folding and making the clothes fit in your suitcase — came with your airline ticket?
Japan Airlines (JAL) is taking the term “packing light” to a new level with its new clothing rental service, “Any Wear, Anywhere.” The service provides international travelers with the option to rent sets of clothing from a range of choices, starting at a little over $27 for two bottoms and three tops, reported Travel + Leisure.
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Multiple sets of seasonal clothing are available for rental in a range of sizes, from casual to smart casual or a combination of both, provided by Wefabrik. Travelers may rent as many as eight outfits for up to two weeks. The service is intended to reduce the weight of baggage and reduce carbon emissions, as well as save travelers hassle and time packing and laundering their own clothing. It also allows them to try on new styles without the pressure of buying them.
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“Travelers increasingly desire to make more sustainable choices regarding their travel destinations, accommodations, transportation etc., they still lack sufficient options. For example, most travelers now enjoy eating at restaurants and staying at hotels at their destination, but they generally bring their own clothing from home,” the press release said.
