RENT THE RUNWAY - chaos or genius?

As bad as it is we're all guilty of buying that dress from ASOS, being careful not to spill any wine down it and then returning it the next day - theres no denying it! Now, Rent the Runway allows you to do this, on a much more boujee scale!

The business plan seems almost impossible to be making money however, today, the nearly $1 billion company has 8 million customers and has exceeded $100 million in revenue to become profitable last year, according to Recode. Rent the Runway employs more than 1,200 people working mostly in technology.

Rent the Runway has sent rented fashion into the mainstream, and its subscriptions are changing peoples shopping habits, with customers renting this seasons most wanted items rather than buying them. The businesses concept is simple: It buys in designer dresses, then allows women to rent those dresses for a fraction of the retail cost.

The company’s core product, 'Rent the Runway Reserve', lets customers rent one piece of clothing for four to eight days with prices starting at $30 per garment. 'Rent the Runway Update' is $89 per month and gives customers access to up to four pieces of clothing per month. And finally, 'Rent the Runway Unlimited' which costs users $159 for unlimited swaps every month, meaning you get up to four pieces at a time but if you want, can visit a store daily and swap the pieces out.

The concept originally started off only renting out event and cocktail dresses however demands have meant they now stock a huge range of every day and work wear, including shoes and accessories. The stock in each store is also tailored to the location. For example, in San Francisco 80 percent of the clothes rented are for everyday with a focus on workwear (the other 20 percent is evening wear and "going out" outfits desired)

In New York, 50 percent of each store is stocked with rentals for everyday wear - mostly jumpers, casual dresses, and work outfits, with only a small section in the back that's dedicated to sequinned cocktail dresses and black tie gowns. 

THE NEW STORE Located on 228 Grant Avenue, San Fransisco, the store is Rent the Runways’s fifth and largest location yet. In addition to 3,000 pieces available to rent curated daily, the store includes personal stylists, a coffee shop, space for evening programming and events, desk space to make the store the working woman's new favourite place to catch up on emails, a beauty bar and over 20 changing rooms!

Pros:

- More than ever people are buying an item of clothing and never wearing it again! Whats so wrong with outfit repeating? So by renting a dress through this, this eliminates this part of the fashion cycle, one single garment getting multiple uses, saving it end in the landfill after one use!

- "Our most engaged customers now wear Rent the Runway 120 days per year"

Cons:

- Why act like you can afford something that you can't? - If a dress goes missing for any reason, by your own fault or the fault of the delivery service, the renter becomes liable for the dress, and in addition to a $50-a-day late fee, Rent the Runway can, and does, charge “up to 200%” of the full retail cost of the dress—each dress—rented.

While I don't think I'll ever need to rent something on a daily basis, Rent The Runway makes it possible to wear beautiful designer clothes when you want to without blowing an obscene amount of money. 

And in the age of social media - where an outfit repeat is a no-no - it's a good way to keep things fresh, without feeling guilty about endless consumption.