Is renting clothes really a thing?

We are used to staying in strangers’ homes via Airbnb, borrowing books in libraries and Kindle. In recent years we have also started talking more and more about rental fashion, but is it really a thing?

In recent years we have seen more and more rental services and platforms pop up in different parts of the world. You may have heard of Rent the Runway, By Rotation, and Mutuari, who have all focused on providing high-end labels such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton and sweet-spot priced brands like Ganni and Maje.

What’s typical of these services and platforms is that the rental price is typically around 5-10% of the retail price, and the leases may be subscription based or one-time rentals.

Why are people renting clothes?

The deciding factors on whether to rent rather than buys seems to be multiple: It might be to save money, to gain access to a product that would otherwise be too expensive, or to find a way as a consumer to reduce the the fashion industry’s environmental impact.

On average, a purchased garment is now worn 5 times before being donated or thrown away. Either way, the garments are shown to end up in landfill. The rental platforms offer an alternative to buying the clothes, consumers can wear something new without breaking the bank and without comitting to the piece.

But is it a thing?

Until recently, Gen-z has been largely fuelling the rental market with environmental impact in mind, however the global online clothing rental market size was valued at $6.2 billion globally in 2023 and still growing, showing that shoppers of all generations are warming to the idea of renting fashion, whether for sustainability or financial reasons.