Sharing Economy Meets High Fashion – Lending is Trending!
Who’d have thought that consumers would be satisfied with renting their outfit for a special occasion, as opposed to buying it, wearing it the once and leaving it to collect dust in their wardrobes for several years before throwing them out? Well, that’s the way it has been for a long time, but now the renting revolution has arrived, that’s all going to change.
When we explore this in greater depth, we learn that renting garments isn’t exactly the greenest of solutions, given the amount of shipping and dry cleaning involved. However, there is a huge plus side to it, and that is the amount that will be saved on discarded clothing. For example, in the US alone, they create over 250 million tons of waste every year—a great deal of which is a direct result of the fashion industry being so wasteful. Most people will only wear a garment one, twice at the most before throwing it away. This simply has to stop.
By renting, as opposed to buying, we will be cutting back on the millions of tons of waste that we create each year due to discarded garments, ultimately reducing our carbon footprint. This is an incredibly positive movement and one that should be celebrated.
Who’s on board with the renting revolution?
There are six major retailers of note leading the renting revolution:
- Rent The Runway
- Le Tote
- Armoire
- Gwynnie Bee
- Glam Corner
- Style Lend
How does it work?
The process is incredibly simple: you visit any one of the websites listed above, or the hundreds of other businesses following suit. Then, you’ll have access to hundreds-of-thousands of different outfit options for your special occasions. Some websites offer an individual rental fee for garments, others offer a monthly subscription where you pay a fixed monthly fee and then you can have unlimited access to outfits, delivered directly to your door. So, you simply find a method that suits you the most, select your favourite garments, place your order and voila! You have a gorgeous new outfit ready to show off at the next event. And the best part about it all? They’re high-end garments that you’d expect to see on the runway or red carpet. Now, you can look and feel like a star, absent the hefty price-tag!
Is this the future of retail?
As the global mindset leans towards a cleaner, greener way of living, we can certainly expect this renting revolution to take off on a massive scale. But it’s not just about cleaning our act up. In fact, by putting luxury goods in the hands of the masses, it could really be a huge net win for the bigger, more expensive labels, making them more accessible to modern consumers. For example, by catering for the younger and less affluent individuals, they will increase the likelihood of those renters converting into buyers in the future when they’re in the financial position to do so. However, in the meantime, they will still be receiving an awful lot of business through this lending trend! Everybody wins!