Fashion rental started gaining traction in recent years. Borrowing of outfits and accessories was previously done within very tight circles of family and maybe friend. Celebrities loaned their outfits and jewelries directly from designers and stylists.
Well, not anymore. Renting designer outfits and accessories has become accessible to more people; thanks to online fashion rental platforms and rental houses which have sprung up over the last few years. Rent the Runway who took the lead in the fashion rental space opened its doors for the first time in 2009 when it started off by renting out designer party wears to women, giving them the option to rent rather than buy a dress that would otherwise be worn once. Rent the Runway has since grown to be recognized as a disruptor within the fashion industry and now renting more than party wears to everyday wears with store locations across the US and online. Today, Rent the Runway is valued at $1 billion dollars and has expanded its range to children designer outfits, pillows, throws and quilts for living rooms and bedrooms.
Other prominent rental platforms and stores operating in different regions include Tutnod, Designer 24 and House of MC in the UAE; Front Row in the UK; VillageLuxe in the US; Style Theory in Indonesia and Singapore and YCloset in China to name a few.
Operating under a slightly different model, Tutnod, which serves as a marketplace recognizes and seeks to provide solutions for specifically these two needs. Many women love the quality of craftsmanship, luxurious materials, one of a kind designs, and the care that goes into the making of a designer item. But the prospect of buying an expensive designer item knowing that it will likely be worn once is the bit that many women do not find appealing. Not many women will invest in an outfit that will not have a lot of wear to justify the price tag. There’s always that question “will I wear it again after this event?” In such instances, many women will choose the option to rent a dress or accessory.
On the other hand, Tutnod recognizes that many women have invested and accumulated beautiful and timeless designer pieces which they might have worn once or a couple of time. These pieces have ended up at the back of many women’s closets. Sometimes, these pieces have sentimental value and they are hard to part with them. Although these items deserve more use, there is only so much wear a woman can put a ball gown, an evening dress, or a cocktail dress to. Particularly in this era of over-documenting our lives on social media.
Tutnod as a marketplace seeks to bring these two different women together as a community. Our goal is to provide a solution to all women under one platform whether as a woman seeking access to designer fashion items without buying or accumulating them or as a woman seeking more use and value to their designer pieces.
Gone are the days when you had to be an A list celebrity and of certain dress sizes to rent designer items. With more fashion rental providers, you too can have an ease of access to designer items and feel every inch an A List celebrity.
