This week Vogue wrote about Girl Meets Dress, and the increase in fashion hire and the link to shoppers desire to be conscious of their textile footprint.
Read the full article below and on this link >

“With sustainability increasingly at the forefront of shoppers’ minds, Vogue reveals how you can upgrade your wardrobe by borrowing, not buying.
Whether it’s a vintage Dior gown or a million-pound Tiffany necklace, celebrities are accustomed to borrowing designer pieces to wear on the red carpet – especially during awards season. But for the everyday consumer, renting premium fashion remains a relatively untapped area that is far from mainstream. Thanks to ever more environmentally conscious shoppers gradually turning their backs on fast fashion, this is about to change.
An influx of fashion rental sites across the world – from Girl Meets Dress in the UK to the US-based Rent The Runway and YCloset in China – means the rental economy is growing, with the industry set to be worth more than £1.4billion by the end of 2023.

A major factor driving change is the increasing global concern surrounding sustainability; a circular economy has been widely recognised as a legitimate solution. “People are becoming more aware of their environmental footprint; these days none of us want to be wasteful,” Girl Meets Dress co-founder Anna Bance tells Vogue. “50 per cent of fast fashion pieces are discarded within a year and as responsible shoppers we are under pressure to close this loop.”
The rise of Instagram and influencer culture that feeds the need for more variety in people’s wardrobes has contributed to the boom in rental businesses too. For those who want the best of both, sustainable fashion updates if you will, renting is the perfect solution. Merri Smith, co-founder of peer-to-peer app Tulerie observes that “with social media, people are photographing their entire lives now, you don’t want to wear things over and over”. But instead of buying something new, “why not borrow it?” she asks.
Luxury brands are also beginning to tap into the potential of the rental market. In fact, Rent The Runway recently teamed up with Derek Lam, Jason Wu and Prabal Gurung to unveil their first exclusive capsule collections. “As the scale of our business has grown, [designers] have realised [the fashion rental market is] healthy; that it’s not hurting their regular business,” says Rent The Runway’s senior buying director James Newell.
Build on your existing wardrobe
You should think of renting as a way to upgrade your current wardrobe, says Smith, who founded Tulerie with business partner Violet Gross after finding they were increasingly borrowing from friends. “70 per cent of your wardrobe is the pieces you’re wearing over and over. We want people to look at enhancing that,” she explains. By renting pieces to supplement your core wardrobe, you can also afford to invest in more expensive staple items that would normally be out of your reach.
Don’t be afraid to take risks
As you’re not committing to a single piece, you can experiment outside of your style comfort zone when renting – including when it comes to new brands. “Be willing to take risks! This is your chance to take rational decision-making out of your fashion choices,” Newell, from Rent The Runway, advises. “Swap out clothes regularly, try new trends and borrow for parts of your life you didn’t anticipate at the start of your journey.”
Plan for special occasions
If you’ve got a big event coming up, it’s important to think ahead – as popular dresses can often get booked up. “There is no rule about how far in advance of the event you should order. The sooner the better. We get dresses booked for weeks, months ahead,” Bance, from Girl Meets Dress, advises.
Think workwear
The boom in the rental fashion market is in part due to more relaxed dress codes in the office, making workwear a key focus area. “15 to 20 years ago, a woman could wear the same anonymous suit as her male counterparts, or invest in a couple of chic dresses and get by with that,” Newell says. “Now there is such a tremendous demand to have varied looks. [Renting] offers a nice solution.”

Make use of the rental community
The online communities that exist around fashion rental sites are a valuable resource. 60 per cent of Rent The Runway customers leave reviews on items they’ve borrowed; and Tulerie, which sees users borrowing from each other, has also found their members wanting to share tips. “People want to talk, they want advice on how to style something,” Smith explains. “We are trying to create this network of women, who are bonding over [a] shared interest of clothing.”

Over the festive period while we were all out of the office and spending time with family, the amount of features written on the subject of Fashion hire, and surrounding the topic of creating a sustainable wardrobe was incredible.

This article below in the Observer Fashion – by Leah Harper @theharpsbizarre on Sat 22 Dec 2018 received over 300 shares and promotes the benefits of subscribing to fashion libraries because they saves money and cuts out waste.

Titled “Check it out: why the smart set are now renting their clothes” below is the link to the full piece:

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/dec/22/fashion-libraries-ethical-clothing-borrowing

“With the sales in full swing and festive soirees dominating social calendars, fast fashion is showing few signs of slowing down. But for those consumers with more parties than pounds, fashion libraries – where clothes can be rented rather than bought – are becoming increasingly popular.

“I don’t have the financial income to invest in high quality but I do want to change my style regularly,” said Zoe Partridge, founder of rental service Wear the Walk, which launched last year. “So my problem was either to invest every six months in a luxury item or to buy lots of fast fashion. There was no middle ground. I wanted to create that.”

As the party season continues, the appeal of borrowing instead of buying is on the rise. It allow partygoers to wear items that may be beyond their usual budget and means they aren’t under pressure to wear them to every possible occasion in order to feel they are getting their money’s worth.

Fashion libraries allow users to check out clothes, wear them for a set period, then return them to the library (where dry-cleaning is usually taken care of) in exchange for something new. Some also offer the option to buy – ideal if it turns out you can’t bear to say goodbye to the item after all.

“We realise the burden and commitment that come with ownership and the freedom that comes with using what we really gain value from, when we want it,” said Sara Arnold, founder of subscription-only rental service Higher Studio, which launched in April. “It comes down to re-evaluating what we want from our fashion objects.”

Renting clothes is not a new concept: high-priced items worn for a single occasion, such as a prom night or a wedding, have long been available for hire. Sites such as Front Row and Girl Meets Dress offer designer items at a low cost – the latter specialising in dresses and catering for events such as races, premieres and awards. But subscription services, which offer long-term borrowing on everyday items, are beginning to gain traction.
Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, east London, launched the first streetwear hire pop-up store, The Drop, earlier this month, offering items for hire (starting at just £10 for four or seven days). It focused on streetwear styles – trainers topped the list of the most-coveted item on show – rather than just dresses. Available apparel also included a Maharishi tiger-style tour jacket (worth £750 new) and a Dirty South padded jacket (worth £210).

The trend for renting clothes also has the scope to tackle other forms of “throwaway” fashion: for example, the US-based subscription service Le Tote invites users to choose from classic or maternity ranges. For pregnant women, the fact that clothes will only be worn for a short period is perhaps more easily understood than it is for those of us who vow to wear something for years because it cost the same as a month’s rent.

But is rentable fashion bad news for designers? Not necessarily, according to Arnold. “We don’t own the stock but split the earnings with the brands when items are rented,” she said. “We want them to be able to earn from quality and durability rather than the quantity sold.”

With UK households sending 300,000 tonnes of fashion waste to landfill each year, and the average number of times a garment is worn before it is retired dropping by 36% in the past 15 years, fashion libraries offer an ethical solution.

According to research by Westfield, seven out of 10 UK shoppers would pay to rent “the hottest fashion item of the moment”. For 33% of them, the appeal of renting clothes lay in saving money, while one in eight were motivated by the desire to shop in a more sustainable way.

It’s not just in the UK that shoppers are keen to maximise wardrobe space. At Lena fashion library in Amsterdam, subscriptions allocate customers points that can then be “spent” on renting new and vintage clothes, alongside the option to buy. In Gothenburg, Sweden, fashion library Klädoteket offers lease periods of up to three months – 450kr (£40) for two items, 650kr (£57) for four. Items range from sequin dresses to baseball caps and, if customers decide they want to own an item they are renting, they will be given 15% off the retail price.

Meanwhile, Toronto’s Fresh Fashion Library offers one of the most budget-friendly options: $30 (£17.50) per month membership allows customers to borrow three items for an unlimited lease period. Which beats scouring the sales for something to see in the new year – and then never wearing it again.”

Every day we get many of you wondering if there is a rent the runway in London, and we are happy to help you all find dresses for your events. Some of you used to live in the US, and used the hire service over there. Don’t worry! Thank you for getting in touch! Shopping with Girl Meets Dress is a very similar service so don’t worry about becoming familar with our dresses, designers and How it all works!

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Get in touch with our dress hire UK team, we are based in London and you can either rent a dress in London online or book a dress rental shop appointment by getting in touch: showroom@girlmeetsdress.com

We can also help with US to UK sizing so you ensure the best dress fit for your dress rental order.

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PROM DRESSES TO HIRE UK

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