{"id":8239,"date":"2011-04-06T19:04:37","date_gmt":"2011-04-06T19:04:37","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-10-15T00:19:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T00:19:25","slug":"fashion-101-rent-the-runway-targets-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=8239","title":{"rendered":"Fashion 101: Rent The Runway Targets Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is fertile ground for Rent The Runway, a year-and-a-half-old company that rents designer dresses and jewelry to women\u2014and increasingly, to girls. College campuses\u2014and even a few elite prep schools\u2014make up roughly 25% of the company’s business and are a big source of its growth. “It starts out with prom and moves on to graduation,” says chief executive Jennifer Hyman, explaining how girls transition into loyal customers as they try out Alice & Olivia, D&G, Missoni, Diane von Furstenberg, Trina Turk and other designers\u2014often for the first time. The company wouldn’t disclose its revenue or income.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The New York City-based Web company\u2014www.renttherunway.com\u2014buys designer clothes wholesale and rents them out, charging between $50 and $200 for two days. That may not sound cheap for a rental, but these are current and recent-season dresses that mostly cost between $400 and $2,000 at retail. Generally, rentals are priced in the neighborhood of 10% of the retail price. Ms. Hyman is a former Starwood Hotels marketing executive, and her site has hospitality pretty well covered. Dresses can be rented in two sizes for the price of one, in case the first size doesn’t fit. Stylists are available by phone to offer advice. A $5 insurance fee protects against Blue Kamikaze spills and other party mishaps. And after being mailed back in pre-paid, pre-addressed bubble mailers, the dresses are dry-cleaned and prepared for the next renter. <\/p>\n

Given the level of service involved in renting out dresses, “We’re more like a hotel company than a fashion company,” she muses. One of Rent The Runway’s slogans on college campuses is “Have a one-night stand with fashion.” The site tries to demystify high fashion for women and girls who don’t invest in pricey dresses. As a result, it aims straight at the average consumer. Once, a stylist shooting clothes for the website positioned models in the kinds of haute expressionless poses that are the norm in fashion magazines. Ms. Hyman feared that would turn off women who wanted a dress for a happy occasion.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

I actually wanted to start this business years ago with a few friends bc they were all buying very expensive formals on credit cards and then returning them after the event to my horror! Do you know anyone who is guilty of that?
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Rent the Runway: Behind the Scenes<\/em><\/strong>
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