FEATURE
began offering lower-cost services to a yearning
consumer base. This has proved more successful
than anyone could have ever imagined. For
example, Airbnb, a leading player in the hospitality
industry, rivals some of the largest hotel chains in
the world, what with presence in thousands
of cities across more than a hundred countries.
The service has attracted over millions of people
as hosts, who have, in turn, served well over 400
million guests.
In the last ten years, the fall-out of the global
recession has made consumers more financially
conscious, while also broadening their concern
for environmental issues. As a result, businesses
have had to make substantial changes in order
to remain appealing prospects, and it is in
this context that start-ups have leveraged the
nuanced gaps to attract customers and take
the lead. In this regard, the fashion and apparel
industries are no different—they have embraced
the sharing economy with new innovations and
business models.
IT IS THE SUBSCRIPTION
RENTAL MODEL THAT HAS
MADE MAJOR HEADWAY.
otherwise inaccessible, now seems to be within
easy reach.
Rentable clothing has taken many forms,
from stand-alone rentals of items that belong
to an exclusive luxury category, all the way to
regular, staple clothing. And it is the subscription
rental model that has made major headway
across a large population segment. The appeal
of subscription apparel is fairly powerful as it
allows people to temporarily own unique items
for a cheap rate rather than buying it outright.
This flexibility has allowed people to try out new,
premium brands for myriad occassions, while
also saving money—clearly, a proposition that
cannot be denied.
WHY RENTABLE FASHION WORKS
Renting clothes is not a new idea. For many
years, people have oftentimes rented costumes
or uniforms. But ‘rentable fashion’ is an entirely
new concept, which has become a rapidly
growing segment in people’s daily lives. On
a global scale, this phenomenon has directly
impacted the fashion and apparel markets. When
it comes to the American market today, nearly 72
per cent of customers is willing to pay US$50 or
more per month to rent three items of clothing.
This, in turn, has raised major concerns in the
country’s billion-dollar apparel market. And as
more and more nations across the world adopt
this trend, the global apparel market, which is
APPAREL
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