Cashing in your 401(k) is no longer the quickest way to don designer threads. Over the past few years, an impressive number of fashion rental companies have sprung up from obscurity, offering the style-obsessed a chance to rock the hottest clothes, jewels, bags and even nail polish for a fraction of the price.
“There’s an amazing feeling a woman gets when she puts on an incredible designer gown,” says Jenny Fleiss, co-founder and president of high-end dress rental site renttherunway.com. “It’s addictive.”
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After renting a Sachin+Babi dress two years ago for an NYU fraternity formal, 22-year-old Jessica Kao picked up the habit.
“To be able to wear such expensive and beautiful fashion at a price I can afford is really wonderful,” gushes Kao. “I’m probably going to rent a dress for New Year’s Eve and for a holiday party.”
Part of the thrill is getting to flaunt numerous looks — before they go out of style. “A customer can borrow 12 luxury handbags a year for the same price as owning one,” says Tiffany Ullian, fashion director of Bag Borrow or Steal, which leases designer bags.
Those chasing dreams of style supremacy have helped the industry flourish. “We’ve seen more than 100 percent growth in most of our metrics year after year,” says Fleiss, whose company just landed a $20 million investment led by Advance Publications.
And newcomers are strutting their way into
the market. Earlier this year, Fatima Khan founded jetworthy.com, which specializes in luxe jewelry rentals, and the trend has spilled into beauty with the arrival of nail-polish lender lacquerous.com.
“I tried Chanel nail polish, and I just couldn’t go back,” says lacquerous.com co-founder Ashlene Nand of the site’s inspiration. There are currently 3,000 people on the wait list for the service, and the 200 who’ve already been granted membership are happily forking over $18 a month to try three crème de la crème polishes at a time, without having to buy them all.
So what’s hot this holiday season? Here are the season’s most wanted — and rented — finds.
