It’s been a while since I’ve added to this blog, mostly due to life changes like kids, new day jobs and living in a new country. But now more than ever it is important to pick this back up as big cultural changes are happening in the retail industry. Let’s take a look at an evolution of an idea with a revolutionary impact: P2P renting.
This ‘shopism’, P2P or direct rentals take the concepts of rent the runway and merges it with the uber model to give you a brand new way to get the looks you want for less – by renting directly from the owners own closet.
Introducing a few new ways to go about it -one on the luxury side of things, like Humm – soon to launch a subscription-based model that allows you to rent luxury items directly from the owners themselves.
According to their site, you just list your closet, a potential renter and you agree on payment, shipping or meeting times and that’s it. When you’re done wearing the garment you simply return it to the owner, rate the transactions and the owner gets paid for their item’s rental. It is a bit of a misnomer on their site, they use the language, “… HUMM provides the opportunity to purchase a dream wardrobe without having to sacrifice the bank account.” You’re not actually buying the items you are renting or borrowing them for a fee.
In today’s more rental-friendly share economy millennials and generation-z are looking to rent the items they need rather than buy them. This is due in part to the lower wages, higher credit card and student debt being accrued and a lack of needing a status to be provided in the idea of “ownership” – its is simply less important to own something rather the importance lies in being “seen” a la Instagram wearing or being with the item. Renting luxury pieces are the obvious and logical next steps to success in the fashion world. Combine this with the fast-fashion producers knowing that they need to create a more sustainable future for their consumers to adopt it all works well.
The next big thing in being seen – AR or Augmented/Virtual Reality clothing – no need to rent when you can fake the Insta pic anyhow.