Rent the Runway: Netflix for Designer Dresses

Jenna Wortham from the The New York Times got an early look Rent The Runway, a new service that rents designer dresses using the Netflix business model.

The mail-order service, which finishes the testing phase on Monday, allows women to rent dresses from notable fashion designers like Diane Von Furstenberg, Hervé Léger and Proenza Schoule for roughly one-tenth of what they would cost to buy in a retail store.

The rentals run $50 to $200 for a four-night loan and are shipped directly to the customer’s doorstep. After wearing the dress, she puts it into a prepaid envelope and drops it in the mail. Dry cleaning is included in the price, but damage insurance costs $5, and in the case of outright destruction of the dress, the renter is responsible for the full retail price.

Think this sounds like a silly idea? The company claims that 20,000 people have already signed up, they secured venture funding, and they haven't even officially launched the website yet. 

Thanks to my old friend Stephen for sending this in.

Comments

[John]

What if the dress gets lost or damaged in transit? Does the company eat the cost like Netflix does?

[tsrblke]

@John,
If the company is smart, they're insuring the packages. Obviously that wouldn't work for Netflix as the cost/benifit ratio would be too small.

[jill]

http://www.WearTodayGoneTomorrow.com has been providing this exact service for close to a year! They loan all of the same (and more than 125 other) top designers weekly at a mere 5 - 10% of retail values. Think $500 dress for either $25 or $50! They ship nationally, and items arrive within 2 - 3 days. They measure all clothing, and everything is guaranteed to fit, or you can get your money back! They've been featured in InStyle, Teen Vogue, People, The Today Show and many more... They're amazing!

[Girl Dresses]

This is only for the blog owner I just want to thanks this guy because of it I get lots of information from it ….
thanks for the info you provided