WE’VE SPOKEN ABOUT RESALE BEFORE. WELCOME TO RENTAL, AN ENTIRELY NEW BALL GAME IN THE SLOW FASHION MOVEMENT. RENTAL IS A QUIET REVOLUTION IN THE WAY PEOPLE CHOOSE TO SHOP. IT ENABLES THE CONSUMERS TO TAKE CHARGE OF THEIR OWN BUYING HABITS. RENTAL FASHION SUPPORTS BUYING LESS WHILST SATISFYING A LOVE OF FASHION. THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER WHEN YOU SHOP RENTAL.

words HOLLY KELSEY
photographs ANDREW DAY
creative direction SARAH MARIE FRANKEN

What is rental fashion?

When you’re looking at a calendar full of occasions to dress up for, but you don’t want to buy a whole new outfit that you’ll only wear a handful of times, renting is the perfect solution. Whether it’s going to a wedding or to brunch with the girls, finding things to wear for different occasions, be they special or casual, or you just want to try something new and refresh your wardrobe – rental ticks all the right boxes. It’s also great for the shopaholics! You get all the rush and adrenaline of wearing something new without the headache of a hefty price tag and long-term commitment of keeping an item in your wardrobe that will only be worn a couple of times. Renting clothes is a form of slow fashion - owning less but wearing more!

Clothing consumption has doubled in the last 10 years especially with the rise of Instagram fashion. Rental takes the pressure off the fashion supply chain for this constant need to make new clothing and it also stops clothes from being sent to landfill, extending the life of the garment. Rental fashion prevents textile waste, reduces our carbon and water footprint, all while making luxury fashion and trendy items available to everyone. It’s all about looking great and feeling great whilst protecting the planet at the same time. Rental is circular fashion through and through - it doesn’t end up in a waste dump and its not stuck in the back of your wardrobe for years. It’s the ability to wear luxury at fast fashion prices that don’t literally cost us the earth. It’s a win-win! Even some of the big name brands have begun to rent out their own clothes, such as Burberry and Vince. The fact that they have started doing this is a sign that the original mindset of fashion is changing - it’s all about inclusivity!

The rental companies

These are some of the rental brands around the world:

London
ByRotation, Hurr, Rotaro, My Wardrobe HQ

Paris
Une Robe Une Soir, Mabonneamie

New York
Rent the Runway, Vivrelle, Nuuly

Australia
Rntr

Image above: The garment bag that the clothes arrived in

Our Experience

We’ve recently used the platform Rent the Runway from New York (as seen in the photos). There’s an option for either 69$ per month for 4 garments or 99$ for 8 per month. Next to the typical e-commerce look you can find additional images and reviews from the people who rented the garment before you! We ordered on Sunday night and the items arrived just a few hours later at 6 pm on Monday. Opening the parcel we immediately saw the slogan: Rent, Reduce, Recycle, which is printed on each dry cleaning cover that the garments are individually packed in. The items seemed brand-new! They came in a black garment bag with a QR code for when you’re ready to send the items back. The clothes are great and they have really good brands on their website. We’ll definitely be using their services again!

There are a huge variety of brands to shop from on rental platforms, from Amina Muaddi to Chloé. The rental companies offer different options as to how you can shop. Some offer a peer-to-peer service (i.e. By Rotation) that connects private lenders and renters who handle all aspects themselves – sending, returning, cleaning and so on. A story we loved hearing about was how two rental consumers who met via Byrotation became best friends!

There are also platforms with subscription or membership (i.e. Rent the Runway or Vivrelle) services where you pay a subscription each month and can choose a select number of items. You can rent an item for a limited amount of time, which may vary according to the policy of the individual rental company. In London it’s possible to indulge your love of in-person shopping, with pop-ups appearing all around the city that enable you to try before you borrow and enjoy that hands-on experience.

Rental fashion is for everyone

Rental democratises fashion. Luxury isn’t just for the wealthy or elite, unlike the conventional perception of ‘exclusivity’ in fashion, where most people stand outside a luxury retailer looking in at a lucky select few with the budgets to gain access to the inside. With rental, anyone can borrow a Dior bag or Prada shoes for a period of time. You have the chance to rent pretty much any item you want. On some rental sites you can rent a Chanel bag for as little as £40 and enjoy all the benefits without worrying about paying the full price. There are a few common misconceptions about rented clothes, that they’re not clean or cared for. This is simply not the case. Any rental company worth its salt ensures that all rental items are always dry cleaned and properly looked after. Some rental companies even use green dry cleaners and carbon less delivery (environmentally-friendly couriers). They would be out of business pretty quickly if they didn’t pay attention to detail.

The other benefit of rental is you can rent out pieces from your own wardrobe that you don’t use very often but can’t bring yourself to part with just yet. It’s a great way to make money – getting mileage from clothes that you don’t wear much anymore. As the founder of Hurr memorably describes it, think of it like ‘Airbnb’ but for fashion. And she’s right: If you’re happy to rent out your apartment then why not try clothes and accessories!

So the bottom line is: rental is still new to a lot of people, which means the only way is up! There’s so much to be done and so much more to see with rental fashion. You’re quite literally voting with your wallet. The power is in your hands. Rental is definitely a major step forward in the future of fashion.