Fashion Friday: Introducing Rent The Runway
- Author: Faith-Ann Young
- Posted on: Friday November 20, 2009 at 1:00 PM
- Filed under: exlcusive, fashion, rent the runway, clothes
In this economy, it can be arduous for a gal to find the perfect little black I-ain't-so-innocent dress, the subtle this-is-getting-serious date dress, or the I-want-to-paint-the-town-red dress. More over, it's near impossible to AFFORD the coveted creations by designers like Herve Leger or Diane Von Furstenberg. At least it was until Rent The Runway came along.
On Rent The Runway, you can browse a crazy cool assortment of designer dresses and rent the perfect one for 4 or 8 days with the click of a mouse. The rental ends up being $50 to $100 a pop (compared to ~ $2000 a pop retail price.) They mail the dress to you (or in NY, provide same day delivery), you strut it like a Gossip Girl, and then pop it back in the mail Netflix-style once you are done.
In other words Rent the Runway is the fashion equivalent of having your cake and eating it too: You can still fulfill your cinderella fantasies without killing your bank account. Plus who needs to own a dress they will only wear once or twice in a lifetime?
The one bummer we found was that the site is currently invite only.
But fret not! We called RTR up, chatted, and thankfully, RTR agreed to give us special, exclusive membership to our readers.
So consider this our Fashion Friday gift girls:
Head to Http://www.renttherunway.com/justintimberlakefans and shop away.
PS If you are curious about the story behind RTR (really people, why did it take so long for a business model like this to come to existence?), we chatted with CEO Jennifer Hyman below:
INTERVIEW WITH JENNIFER HYMAN, CEO of RENT THE RUNWAY:
JT.COM: How do you choose the designers featured on Rent The Runway:
Jennifer: We wanted to choose extremely cool emerging up and coming designers as well as established ones. For instance, Herve Leger has been around for a while but we know women are obsessed. Then we have Haute hippie, Proenza Schouler, etc....Our target is dresses that you can wear to go out at night or wear to special occasions in your life. Because fashion is meant to be fun.
JT.COM: You've gotten a crazy amount of press in such a short time! Are you surprised by the popularity?
Jennifer: We didn’t anticipate the amount of amazing demand. We didn’t expect 100,000 women would be interested! So we are trying to keep up with the customers by expanding slowly.
JT.COM: How many members do you have right now?
Jennifer: Today we have 100,000 members and 20,000-25,000 people on the waitlist, which we will let in after the next lot of inventory.
JT.COM: You have a very interesting chat feature where women can chat with specialists while shopping for their perfect dress. How many stylists do you have and how do you train them?
Jennifer: We have 6 stylists – all who have former styling experience. Since we know each designer runs differently, our stylist team knows everything from which sizes to order to which dress is appropriate for which occasion.
JT.COM: Are there ways in which you expect Rent The Runway to change or expand?
The next market we are going to expand is accessories so you can rent the entire look. We are also expanding into bridal so no women will ever have to ear an ugly bridesmaid dress again!
JT.COM: This seems like very good timing considering the current economic climate. Is this something you took into consideration?
Jennifer: I think there’s a really recessionitsta culture right now. Women are buying pieces to invest with. But women are women. We still want the amazing new dress. What changes is the concept around how much you spend. [At Rent The Runway], we are making sure everyone can have access to that Carrie Bradshaw experience.
LINK: http://www.renttherunway.com/justintimberlakefans.
NEXT POST: Fashion Friday: Celebrity Fashion Collaborations
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COMMENTS
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