Australians are among the biggest consumers of clothing in the world, with the latest data from clothing stewardship scheme Seamless finding the average person buys 53 garments a year.
Further research finds that to meet the nation’s 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, the number must drop to between five and seven garments per person, but fast fashion is causing a sharp rise in consumption over the past 30 years.
And now the University of Technology Sydney’s Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Fashion and Textiles has released a new report with a survey of around 900 users on The Volte, a consumer-to-consumer garment rental platform, to assess the climate benefits of rental platforms.
The team conducted life cycle assessments to understand the emissions saved and the nine types of garments that are best rented.
Dr Lisa Lake, director of the centre at UTS, said: “This is more than a study —it’s a wake-up call to industry and policymakers.
“If we want fashion to survive and thrive within planetary limits, rental must become a cornerstone of the modern wardrobe.”
The results
The study found that, unsurprisingly, special occasion wear is often the most resource-intensive to make and yet receives the least wear out of everyday garments – with some people avoiding being seen in the same clothes by the same people, while others don’t have many events to wear the clothes to.
The Volte revealed nine of its most popular items had a low to medium utilisation rate in individual wardrobes. For example, a wedding dress had a low frequency of use but was a popular rental item, with the same dress being rented 22 times through the platform.
The highest utilised item in an individual’s wardrobe was a floral print linen shirt dress, which incidentally is also one of the higher rented items, being rented 46 times.
How do I find out the emissions of my garment?
The good news is a rental item produced between 44 and 78 per cent emissions compared to an ownership model of the item.
This aligns with the intentions of renters, with 70 per cent of the citing sustainability as their key motivation for renting, and 65 per cent believing that rental will become more important in the future.
The carbon emission modelling utilises the Ecoinvent v2 database, which tracks emission data for different types of fabrics. According to data utilised in the report Tencel is reported to produce the least emissions.
The database also accounts for emissions generated during the production process, such as those associated with ironing, sewing, and internal packaging, as well as air freight transportation of the fabric and garment.
The database can track further assessment through the use stages of the garment, including washing, dry cleaning, packaging and further transportation – followed by the transportation to landfill and donation site at the end of life.
Additional ripple effects for consumers renting to other consumers
An additional benefit to the system was the rise of “super lenders”, categorised by those who have six or more orders within two months, generating significant income through renting out their luxury, designer or occasional wear pieces.
These women-led microbusinesses have had an unplanned economic impact in terms of supporting local dry cleaning businesses.
Co-founder and chief executive of the rental platform, Bernadette Olivier, said the research confirms that the rental market was “no longer a niche” and should be taken seriously in reducing environmental footprint.
“Instead of being worn once and forgotten, it’s worn dozens of times—maximising its value, minimising its footprint.
“Beyond reducing resource use, it builds new business models, fosters local enterprise, and transforms fashion culture from excess to exchange.”
Lead researcher and associate professor at UTS Timo Rissanen said that if consumers shift from ownership to the rental model, “we can drastically cut production, waste, and emissions across the supply chain.
The demographic
According to the report, most renters live in capital cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide. Around 75 per cent of respondents were women aged 21 to 40, with 35 per cent earning between $150,000 and $250,000. Instead, 25 per cent earn $150,000 to $250,000, 20 per cent earn $100,000 to $150,000, 20 per cent earn $50,000 to $100,000, and 10 per cent earn below $50,000, and further 10 per cent earn over $250,000.