Individuals can rent garments from an organization, and although they may use garments collaboratively, the rental item may not be an idle capacity and is owned by the company.
Published in Chapter:
My Wardrobe in the Cloud: An International Comparison of Fashion Rental
Claudia E. Henninger (Department of Materials, The University of Manchester, UK), Eri Amasawa (The University of Tokyo, Japan), Taylor Brydges (Stockholm University, Sweden & Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, Australia), and Felix M. Piontek (Ulm University, Germany)
Copyright: © 2022
|Pages: 23
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-7545-1.ch007
Abstract
In response to the 2008 global financial crisis, a range of disruptive business model innovations emerged. The fashion industry saw the introduction of fashion rental platforms, aimed at appealing to price-conscious consumers still hungry for the latest styles. While these new business models filled a gap in the market and saw, in some cases, profit in the millions, the phenomenon remained rather niche. The recent pandemic, alongside other isomorphic pressures, have put further constraints on these fashion rental businesses and their entrepreneurs, leaving them struggling in the current economic climate. This chapter explores the entrepreneurial motivations behind rental platforms, the different platform models in operation, and the challenges these businesses face in the 21st century, including increased technological developments, environmental sustainability, and external pressures, such as the most recent pandemic, which saw economies shutting down. Empirically, the authors draw upon a novel dataset comprising six international case studies.