My Wardrobe HQ and Belstaff launch rental and resale offering at LFW
While most millennials have been forced to rent due to astronomical house prices – costs are 14 times higher than they were for baby boomers – many have actively chosen to rent transport and increasingly, share clothing, because of attractive costs, greater wardrobe range and the understanding that doing so is a greener way to live.
Responding to this shifting behaviour, and forecasts that the global online rental market is expected to reach a value of $2.08 Billion by 2025, luxury rental and resale fashion platform My Wardrobe HQ and British brand Belstaff have announced a partnership that will see the first luxury rental and resale offering for men.
In celebration of the launch, the duo hosted a London Fashion Week online panel talk featuring Jane Shepherdson, My Wardrobe HQ chair, Dylan Jones OBE, British Fashion Council chair and editor in chief at British GQ, James Norton, Belstaff Ambassador, Misan Harriman, Founder of What We See and Wilson Oryema, sustainability advocate.
“I had a rental epiphany a couple of years ago, when I realised it was pretty much the only thing that still allowed me to enjoy fashion without feeling guilty about the damage it was doing to the planet,” noted Shepherdson, who led the conversation. “It also gives everyone the opportunity to experience the joy of wearing a beautifully designed and exquisitely produced piece of clothing they wouldn’t normally able to afford.”
Jones, when asked now that woman have embraced rental did he think men were also ready, replied: “Regardless of what we think, these things are driven by the consumer – and if the common man is interested in something you don’t have to pay lip service, you have to react and respond in a way that suits them. They can get their media anywhere these days, and if you are going to have a relationship with someone, you have to be honest about your ambitions and also about the way that you make up your own company. They are not just ready for it, they are looking for reasons not to consume – and if you let them down, they will wander off, they will be gone.”
Discussing the future of fashion, the potential of rental and how it helps the circularity of fashion and sustainability within the industry, the panel is available to watch in full here.
