Popular clothing brand, American Eagle, has this week announced that they have launched a rental subscription service, permitting customers to rent and return clothing after they had finished with their items.
Costing just $49.95 a month, the subscription model is already grabbing the attention of American fashionistas. Catering to a new generation of environmentally-conscious shoppers, renting over purchasing boasts various benefits. From making fashion more affordable to taking pressure off of retailers to churn new designs out quickly, renting clothes just makes sense.
This comes after various calls to inject the theme of sustainability into fashion. With various organisations, including Business of Fashion, calling for a new-age solution to the way we shop and waste clothes.
“In more and more categories, consumers are choosing to rent rather than own goods outright. Think of Spotify supplanting CD sales and downloads, Netflix replacing video stores and ZipCar standing in for car ownership among many young urbanites,” stated the State of Fashion report for 2019.
“This is a fundamental evolution in consumer behavior and we expect it will have an impact in the fashion business in the years ahead.”
But, American Eagle is not the only brand to be exploring the idea of clothing rental. Rent the Runway is also hitting the headlines of late; another firm flying the flag for garment rental.
It is not just the world of fashion that is looking closely at the rental market. Just last month, rumours were intensified about Ikea’s first steps into the rental market, said to be working on a subscription model for furniture rental. Wanting to rent out tables, sofas and even kitchens, could we see other big brands entering the ever-changing rental space?
Share your opinions and thoughts on this subject below. Would you rent clothes that someone else had worn before you?
