Why Young Consumers in Japan are Falling in Love with Vintage Fashion
Source: YiLan FuSang (ID: sjcff2016), Author: Jiang Jianqiang
Article Summary
This article explores the development of Japan’s vintage culture and the growing popularity of vintage clothing in the country. Vintage clothes are not only secondhand garments but also fashion items with historical and cultural significance. The article also discusses Uniqlo’s recent move to sell secondhand clothes and the increasing acceptance of vintage in Japan.
- Vintage clothing in Japan plays a role of “beauty,” not just “prettiness,” embodying narrative and rarity.
- Japan’s vintage culture has a long history, with vintage garments dating back to the Muromachi period.
- The younger generation in Japan is increasingly accepting vintage clothing, with resistance fading.
In their perception of beauty, the Japanese are skilled at distinguishing between two kinds of beauty. The Japanese language uses the terms “美しい” (beautiful) and “綺麗” (pretty). In the Japanese view, something that is merely pretty can, in a certain sense, be made by anyone. Through cleaning, styling, conventions, or manuals, one can make something “pretty.” If “pretty” is the standard, then people become overly fixated on it. On the other hand, “美しい” (beauty) moves people internally, stirring their emotions, making them shiver and even lose control. Once someone falls in love with such beauty, they are no longer just the user of that thing, but part of it.
Vintage clothing, in this sense, plays the role of beauty, not just prettiness. The essence of vintage is not its form but its style. “Form” is external; “style” is internal. Form is the shell, while style is the essence.
As part of Japan’s vintage culture, areas like Tokyo’s Shibuya and Harajuku, which were originally subcultural hotspots, have seen a resurgence in vintage clothing in recent years. Especially when riding the Odakyu Line to Shimokitazawa, you can find more than 180 vintage shops crowded together. It’s vibrant and dazzling. Consumers hop from one store to another, hoping to find a unique vintage item that suits their personal aesthetic.
Streets of Shimokitazawa
Here, it’s necessary to clarify the concept of “vintage clothing.” Is vintage just discarded secondhand clothes? Not exactly. While it is true that vintage items can be secondhand, it is much more than that. Vintage clothing is not just an alternative term for secondhand clothes in the context of preserving a culture or continuing a tradition.
The term “vintage” in English implies items that carry the mark of time, reflecting fashion trends from a particular era, and are no longer in production. In other words, vintage clothes must be from a specific time period and must be unique, rare items.
This leads to two key characteristics of vintage: narrativity and rarity. A vintage item, when worn today, connects with people on a deeper, emotional level (narrativity) and stands out because it is one-of-a-kind (rarity). A slogan that has become popular in Japan in recent years is “Remember old things,” emphasizing the importance of preserving vintage items so that they can connect with future generations. Clothing is, after all, a medium for expressing both individual and societal desires, and represents the intersection of personal and cultural identity.
Culturally speaking, vintage does not necessarily mean “the older, the better.” If an item is too old, it becomes an antique. Vintage, however, typically refers to clothing within the past half-century, as it carries the broadest historical and cultural significance, avoiding being swallowed by fleeting trends.
Japan’s vintage culture has a long history, dating back to the Muromachi period (1336–1573). During this time, vintage was simply clothes that had been worn and passed down, embodying Japan’s unique “もったいない” (mottainai), or “what a waste” spirit. During the Edo period, many people wore “vintage” garments, as samurais didn’t wear new clothes, and commoners lived by the motto “mottainai,” a reflection of the era’s material scarcity. Clothing was worn until it was completely worn out, as throwing clothes away was considered wasteful. At that time, vintage was a necessity.
In the 1970s, however, the perception of clothing underwent a fundamental shift. With Japan’s economic growth and increasing wealth, people began seeking individual style, and vintage shops in places like Harajuku began to spring up. Vintage clothing ceased to be just a necessity; it became a symbol of individuality, fashion, and self-expression. This is one of the reasons why vintage has grown increasingly popular in Japan. The younger generation’s resistance to vintage has also diminished, and the notion that “someone else has worn these clothes” has become less of a concern.
Historically, in Shinto culture, “purity” and “brightness” were essential elements, and items with dirt or the passage of time were mentally rejected. The concept of “cleanliness” demanded that people avoid anything “unclean” or “impure.” This helped explain why Japan’s antique and secondhand markets were not as developed as those in countries with Christian cultural influences, where the concept of donating unwanted items took root.
However, Japan’s acceptance of vintage can be attributed to two main factors. First, the pursuit of personal aesthetics has become so strong that people now see beyond their previous preconceptions, and Shinto notions of “impurity” (ケガレ, kegare) no longer hold the same weight. Second, the technology used to clean vintage items, including disinfecting and removing bacteria, has made old garments feel new again. Additionally, the style, layout, and artistic design of vintage shops often surpass that of curated clothing stores, eliminating the traditional “dirty” or “messy” image associated with secondhand shops.
On Vintage Clothing and Tradition
In terms of vintage clothing and its cultural transmission, the Japanese have a clear understanding that fabric, as a form of clothing material, is not merely a physical object but embodies a philosophy of life and a way of living. Moreover, fabric is a medium through which these ideas and ways of life are widely communicated. For the Japanese, even the wrinkles in fabric are seen as expressions of emotional depth and beauty.
Japanese scholar Yuko Tanaka, in her book The Power of Fabric (Asahi Shimbun Publishing, 2010), praises the immeasurable role that fabric has played in the construction of civilization. She argues that “handcraft” was originally a great medium for human connection, but industrialization destroyed the interpersonal relationships formed through handcrafting, and the Industrial Revolution suppressed the “hand” of humanity. One example of this is the thin muslin fabric once produced in Bengal, which the British East India Company, focused on colonialism, forced the construction of many textile factories in the region, disrupting its traditional practices.
In short, through its functions of protection, skin contact, transparency, decoration, representation, enclosure, mystery, and media, fabric vividly portrays humanity and its essence. In this regard, the Japanese have excelled. For instance, in the Man’yōshū (a famous anthology of Japanese poetry from the Nara period), there are several poems that refer to buttons. The fate of a button is to be unfastened, which ties into sensuality. The pleasure of clothing is found in these elements.
As for the famous antique fabric dealer Tatsuichi Horikiri, he wrote a book titled The History of Rags (Dyeing, Weaving and Life Publishing, 1987), where he states that fabric is the most memorable non-living entity.
Thus, fabric always carries memory, especially those rags that have been spun, dyed, woven, or sewn together (referred to as “cloth tears”). In the study and promotion of fabric culture, Japan even has an association dedicated to antique cloths called “The Old Cloth Society.” These efforts undeniably deepen the Japanese understanding of fabric. For example, what does fabric mean to a person? What does it mean to be wrapped in it? What does it mean to wind, tie, or untie it? From the perspective of utility and beauty, the Japanese see clothing as a form of “folk art.” This represents a new aesthetic value system and a new way of perceiving objects.
As a result, vintage clothing has evolved from a niche culture to one that is widely accepted both in terms of its cultural depth and historical continuity.
The Impact of Fast Fashion on the Japanese Clothing Market
However, once people’s aesthetic preferences shifted to the fast fashion era, it also marked the beginning of large-scale production, consumption, and disposal in the clothing industry. Japan, in this regard, has been particularly notable. The rise of Uniqlo is a direct result of this era. Uniqlo, as a global fast fashion giant, has the ability to produce high-quality products at such low prices because of its massive annual sales of ¥2 trillion.
According to statistics, approximately 100 billion garments are produced globally each year. In 2020, Japan produced 3.5 billion garments, with Uniqlo accounting for 1.3 billion of them. Indeed, clothing in Japan has reached a level of oversupply. Let’s take a look at a set of data released by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment in 2022:
- On average, every person in Japan buys 18 items of clothing per year, discards 15 items, and owns 35 items they hardly wear.
- Regarding the price trend of clothing: In 1990, the average price per garment was ¥6,848; in 2000, ¥4,778; in 2010, ¥3,395; and in 2020, ¥2,892.
- Various ways of handling unwanted clothing: 7% is sold as vintage, 3% is donated or given away, 14% is recycled through local stores, 8% is sent for resource recovery, and 68% ends up as combustible waste.
- The total amount of clothing waste in Japan each year is 470,000 tons. Of this, 95% (445,000 tons) is incinerated or buried, while only 5% (2,500 tons) is recycled. Japan processes a total of 12,000 tons of clothing waste daily, the equivalent of 120 large trucks.
- The environmental load from garment production, including raw material sourcing and manufacturing, is as follows: CO2 emissions are about 90,000 kt; water consumption is about 8.3 billion m3; and waste materials produced are around 45,000 tons. On average, producing one garment emits about 25.5 kg of CO2 and consumes 2,300 liters of water (equivalent to 500ml bottled water in 255 bottles).
In Japan, the volume of collected used clothing increases each year. This is not due to a change in consumer recycling awareness, but because the price of new clothes continues to drop. In the past, people bought clothes only from department stores. Later, curated stores emerged, followed by fast fashion brands, which led to lower prices and higher quantities of clothing purchases.
The big question is how to cope with rising raw material costs due to increased environmental, energy, and material prices.
Uniqlo has taken steps toward addressing this issue. The company is attempting to show its commitment to the matter and, at the same time, acknowledge the public’s growing pressure on “whoever produces, is responsible.” In a sense, fast fashion companies like Uniqlo, ZARA, H&M (Sweden), GAP (U.S.), and others are inherently part of the cycle of production and sales with “original sin.” These companies are now also engaging in large-scale secondary circulation efforts.
From October 11 to 22 this year, Uniqlo began selling its collected vintage clothing at a pop-up shop in the basement of their Harajuku store. A company spokesperson said, “Over the past 20 years, our inventory of vintage clothing has far exceeded what we’ve donated, which is why we opened this pop-up shop. One of our ideas was to try selling vintage items. We chose Harajuku because it attracts many young consumers. Since these are vintage items, they must meet certain quality standards to be sold. We carefully inspect each piece, repair what needs fixing, and then wash it. For items like sweatshirts and T-shirts, we also add a dyeing process to enhance their value, offering consumers different colors and styles. Consumers love to find products with old, discontinued labels.”
The Environmental Impact of Clothing Waste: A Global Perspective
In June 2018, the British luxury brand Burberry sparked global controversy with its annual report, which revealed that the company had burned unsold new clothing and accessories worth $37 million (approximately 4.2 billion yen). Burberry defended its actions, claiming it was a measure to protect intellectual property and prevent products from being misappropriated. However, critics argued that the brand’s true motivation was to protect its image, stating that the company preferred to destroy its unsold stock rather than risk selling it at a discounted price.
This refusal to reduce prices through discounting, while it may suppress consumption, also leads to significant environmental harm. This is because discarded clothing is rarely suitable for incineration as it is made from various materials. For example, a parka may have cotton as its main fabric, but the stitching is polyester, and the zipper is metal. As zippers are sewn onto the fabric, disassembling them is labor-intensive. Therefore, landfill disposal becomes a more viable option for these items.
People often believe that clothes can be easily burned because they are made of fabric. In fact, very few clothes are easy to incinerate; at best, it’s usually just a t-shirt. Even for a t-shirt, however, the production process consumes 4,000 kilograms of resources, including water, oil, pesticides, fertilizers, bleach, and dye. In contrast, recycling a vintage t-shirt requires only 30 grams of resources. The difference is stark, highlighting the significant environmental impact of recycling compared to incineration. From an environmental perspective, Burberry’s burning practices are highly questionable.
In February of last year, NHK aired a special feature on clothing “graveyards.” One such graveyard is located 17,000 kilometers away in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, where approximately 100,000 tons of discarded secondhand clothing have accumulated, forming a massive “clothing cemetery” of jackets, jeans, shoes, and bags. Most of these discarded clothes are made from synthetic fibers derived from petroleum, meaning that even if they are buried in the desert, they will never decompose, contributing to soil pollution. Furthermore, frequent fires in the area release toxic gases into the air. While clothing is a basic human necessity, the idea that our clothing has created such a horrifying “cemetery” is unimaginable.
The Cultural Differences in Clothing Donation and the Rise of Vintage in Japan
In Western countries, particularly in Christian cultures, the concept of “donation” has deeply rooted itself in society. People commonly donate unwanted clothes to churches, which serve as collection points for secondhand garments. However, Japan is the only country where a significant amount of old clothing is incinerated. It is reported that 80% to 90% of vintage clothing in Japan is burned as waste. Operators of vintage stores in Japan claim that this is due to the lack of a strong donation culture in the country.
Another reason for this behavior is the Japanese reluctance to accept others’ belongings without reason. However, it is evident that young people in Japan are at the heart of fashion trends, and retailers are keen to follow their lead. As a result, the younger generation’s aversion to vintage clothing has diminished significantly. In other words, Japan is likely to remain the largest vintage clothing market in the world for the foreseeable future.
Admittedly, this industry cannot thrive solely on knowledge. Yet, it is a fact that Japan’s fashion enthusiasts may possess the highest level of knowledge in the world. As craftsman and folk art advocate Yanagi Soetsu once said, “When people return to their true nature, they reach a state beyond the bounds of beauty and ugliness, revealing the true face of Buddha.” If applied to clothing, this philosophy challenges the current fast fashion culture by encouraging individuals to care for their clothes, make them last longer, or revive and repurpose garments. It promotes the idea of buying vintage instead of new clothing and turning vintage into a means of resisting the overconsumption of the fashion industry.
Fukumi Shimura, a renowned over-90-year-old dyeing and weaving master in Japan, shared in her book Iro Ichi Se (One Color, One Life): “I want to pass on the life of plants and the principles of fabric to young people, no matter the form. I hope to continue this in the next generation, cherishing the colors I’ve obtained and respecting nature. I wish to convey this spirit to the younger generation.” This is an ethos that goes beyond just a sustainable approach to clothing; it is a philosophical view that time itself bestows a character upon old garments.
In the words of philosopher Seiji Watanabe in Why Do People Wear Clothes?, it’s the passage of time that gives old clothing its own unique face, turning these pieces into something with both history and character.
DODO’s Reflections and Perspective
Reading this article, we couldn’t help but feel inspired by how Japan’s vintage clothing culture has grown into something truly special. It’s fascinating to see how vintage fashion is no longer just about secondhand clothes — it’s about stories, individuality, and sustainability. This really resonates with us at DODO.
In the secondhand clothing industry, we’ve always believed that every piece of clothing has its own story to tell. It’s not just about saving resources or reducing waste — it’s about connecting people to something meaningful, something unique. Just like how Shimokitazawa has become a haven for vintage lovers, we aim to bring that same excitement to our customers around the world.
What really stood out to us is how younger generations are embracing vintage clothing. It’s a reminder that attitudes are changing. People want more than just fast fashion — they’re looking for something with character, something that lasts. That’s why we’re so passionate about building a reliable, high-quality supply chain for secondhand clothing. We want to help retailers and consumers find products that are not only affordable but also rich in value and meaning.
And let’s not forget the environmental aspect. We’ve seen firsthand the impact of textile waste, and it’s clear that we all need to do better. Whether it’s through innovation in sorting and cleaning or setting new industry standards, we’re committed to creating a greener future.
Ultimately, this article reaffirms what we already believe at DODO: secondhand fashion isn’t just a trend — it’s a movement. It’s about preserving the past while shaping a sustainable future. And we’re thrilled to be part of this journey, working with partners and customers worldwide to make a real difference, one piece of clothing at a time.
- #VintageFashion
- #SecondhandClothing
- #SustainableFashion
- #CircularEconomy
- #UniqloVintage
- #TextileRecycling
- #ThriftShopping
- #EcoFriendlyClothing
- #SlowFashion
- #DODOBirdUsedClothing
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