The last time I took a serious look into rental fashion was a couple of years ago, and in all honesty I found it wanting. The pickings were limited and one note, a few of the same brands dominated and more crucially, the sizing options were slim, literally. I ended up with a striped Balmain jumper and Chanel handbag for a weekend which was fine but not particularly thrilling.
Since my initial, unimpressed foray, the world of renting has exploded from something no one was quite sure about to a no-brainer for plenty. Harrods, Matches, John Lewis, Flannels, Selfridges and Rixo all offer rental arms for their collections; there’s Hurr Collective, By Rotation, Rites, My Wardrobe HQ, Cloan and Cocoon (solely for handbags). Friends pick up frocks for weddings, fashion-y types I know have a ticking over income from listing their hard-won sample sale pieces. This year you can even rent a Christmas jumper from Lidl, which is something in the face of novelty landfill I suppose.
The idea is that you’re saving both money and yourself from the rampant swathe of fast fashion shop-and-ditch mentality by being able to access luxury fashion pieces at a fraction of the retail price, albeit for a short period. Arguably, a lot of the rental pieces are new season so I am not quite sold on how much this dissipates the industry’s unbridled thirst for newness, which is part of the problem of overproduction. Personally speaking, I couldn’t bring myself to wear a shared shoe or earring, both feel slightly icky.
But if you’re in want of something sparkly or special which won’t be worn more than once, it’s a solution. The only things you should yearn to own are items you’ll wear endlessly on repeat, anything with a limited lifespan gives me caution. While occasion wear is the mainstay of rental, skiwear is a burgeoning category too, which seems smart for the occasional slope-botherer.
Victoria Prew is the brains behind Hurr Collective, which has its own website featuring brands and peer-to-peer lending, as well as being the logistic tech power behind a slew of retailer rental. She positions Hurr as a “fashion forward aspirational platform where we see the best demand is for pieces that have sold out online”. The current hottest items are a Saloni bow dress, 16Arlington solaria gown and vintage Jean Paul Gaultier pieces. “Our sweet spot for rental is a £300-£600 item being rented at roughly 15 to 20 per cent of RRP,” she explains. In terms of sizing, Hurr has better results than others, although My Wardrobe HQ is pretty good on this, too.
One major luxury retailer is gearing up to launch rental, but when I looked at the edit, most pieces were in an 8 to 12, with only one item in a 16, which is a depressing reflection of the general allergy to meaningfully catering to anyone over a size 14. “We have over 950 pieces on site in a 16, and 250 in an 18. Without doubt there is work to do” says Prew of Hurr, which carries clothes from a size two to 32, “but we’re only as good as the brands and retailers who give us stock”.
Herewith, my favourite picks from trawling the rental sites: my verdict? Some brilliant finds, and better than I expected, but still somewhat of a work in progress.
Victoria Moss's rental wish list
