In Tokyo, a shop where you can wear your clothes for a day before buying them

GU is a Japanese brand that specialises in affordable fashion and belongs to the Fast Retailing group that owns brands such as Uniqlo, Princesse Tam.Tam and Comptoir des Cotonniers. GU has nearly 300 stores in Japan. The GU shop in Shibuya, a trendy quarter popular with young people in Tokyo, has innovated by creating the GU Fitting Service. It allows customers to try their clothes for a day before deciding if they want to buy them.

This innovation is designed to avoid impulse buys that people later regret. The service allows customers to be sure about the clothes they are after, work with their wardrobe.

The requirements to use this service are very simple. The brand doesn’t require a deposit or any ID. All that is needed is a name and a telephone number. The only requirement is to bring the clothes back before the store closes.

For practical reasons, it’s not possible to borrow more than three items of clothing, and the service is limited to 30 customers per day. Returned clothes are not put back on the shelves, but instead are used to dress the mannequins in the shop windows, or sent straight for recycling.

This innovation currently exists only in Shibuya. It is based on trust, a key value in Japanese society. For now, it’s too early to know if the concept will be expanded to other stores. However, the innovation has led to a number of write-ups about the brand, which, whatever happens, has pulled off a good marketing campaign.

Practical information
GU Shibuya
Konno Hachiman Gu Shrine
3-5-12 Shibuya Tokyo, Japan