Collaborative economy and shared clothing: Sustainable clothing use of retired Korean men

Abstract

The concept of a ‘sharing economy’ and practice of ‘collaborative consumption’ suggest making use of market intelligence to foster a more collaborative and sustainable society. The clothing behaviour of retired men can be explained by social and economic changes that expose them to new cultural influences. Our goal was to evaluate the probability of success of a clothing sharing service in a collaborative economy. Hence, we examined the possibility of sharing idle clothing through a sustainable clothing service. A survey of South Korean retirees born before 1964 revealed that male retirees wore their clothes for 4.8 years on average before they would dispose them off. Only 14 per cent of idle clothing has been shared; however, a majority of retirees surveyed showed an affirmative attitude to the concept of sharing their clothing through a service. This could become a sustainable practice.