Why you should rent your outfit this season; including rental platforms you should know about.

The season’s saviour is fashion rental. Rental allows you to experiment with new styles, save money, and remain an ethical consumer… What's not to love?

Maria Jelenska

18th January 2023

Fashion

If you’ve just realised that Christmas and New Year are right around the corner and on top of having to complete a ton of errands, buy Christmas gifts and visit relatives, you need to figure out all of your festive outfits too - welcome to the club.

Whilst the festive season is meant to be a peaceful and restful time spent with your loved ones, it can usually feel pretty overwhelming. All of us want to feel and look good at Christmas and New Year gatherings, but December usually leaves us without extra budget or time to figure out a nice (and sustainable) outfit.

The season’s saviour is fashion rental. This concept of shared consumption creates circularity and is much less wasteful than traditional fashion models. Rental allows you to experiment with new styles, save money, and remain an ethical consumer… What's not to love?‍

The Darkside of the Sequin Dress

When you think of festive outfits, especially those for New Year's Eve, your mind immediately goes to sequins, sparkle and glitter. Whilst that might be the go-to style of the season, most of us won’t easily style a silver sparkly dress again which is why outfits like these usually end up in the back of our wardrobes and later in landfills, polluting the environment.

Not to mention that as beautiful and shiny as sequins are, they are made of plastic and leave a huge environmental footprint throughout their production, cleaning and disposal processes. Along with all synthetic materials, sequins and glitter emit microplastics into the water systems which are then released into the oceans and more shockingly, into our food chain. At Oxwash, our machines are fitted with microplastic filtration systems to divert these microfibres away from water systems and out of our oceans.

We shouldn’t feel guilty if we want to rock a sparkly outfit come Christmas and NYE but we should be more conscious of how we consume these typically ‘worn once’ garments. We have to agree that it would be more ethical to keep them in the loop for as long as possible, which is why fashion rental is becoming extremely popular when it comes to luxury fashion.

What is Fashion Rental?

Fashion rental allows a person to borrow and return garments for an agreed fee, instead of buying them for full price and keeping them. Historically, the concept of rental has been especially popular for renting bridal dresses, cocktail attire or costumes. However, it has recently become more and more popular for all sorts of garments and occasions as consumers strive to be more environmentally conscious with their fashion habits. The rationale behind the sustainability of fashion rental is that we keep clothing in the loop for longer, which decreases excessive waste, water usage and CO2 emissions coming from the fashion industry. Consumers also strive for flexibility and the ability to experiment with their style without overspending or feeling guilty about participating in the ‘throw-away’ fashion culture of today.

There are a variety of different rental platforms. Some let you rent for a day or a weekend, and some you can rent monthly as part of a subscription service. Some rental platforms actually allow you the possibility to purchase rental garments if you end up falling in love with them. ;)

Surprisingly (or not), rental isn’t just for adults. If you have children and want to save money and wastage on buying clothes that they grow out of so quickly, check out the fast-growing childrenswear rental segment. We think it’s genius!

Why Rent Fashion Instead of Buying?

A great benefit of renting instead of buying is the ability to go as experimental and quirky with your style as you want, without the need to commit to purchasing garments and cluttering up your wardrobe! If you’re a person who (like us) loves fashion and also cares deeply about sustainability - rental is the perfect option. That dress that you’ll likely only wear once or twice could be worn dozens of times by the time it has reached the end of its life span.

Did you know that if everyone wore a pre-loved outfit for Christmas Day alone, the CO2 emissions saved would be equivalent to taking 56 million cars off the road? Shared consumption saves resources and waste!

We’ve all been there where you’ve splurged on an outfit for a special occasion and never worn it again. When you think back, how many times have you impulsively bought something trendy and the hype faded quicker than expected? We're all guilty of it. Renting special occasion outfits instead of buying them and wearing them a mere couple of times will save you a lot of money in the long run, not to mention the savings towards your environmental impact.

The Role of Sustainable Cleaning in Fashion Rental

When buying a new outfit it’s rare that our first thought would be how to take care of it. Take a look at any two garment labels and you’ll likely notice the care of each is different. Not only does typical garment cleaning not allow for each garment’s specific needs but it also contributes greatly to environmental and water pollution.

At Oxwash, we wet clean garments in the most sustainable way. Oxwash uses state-of-the-art technology that saves water and CO2, removes microplastic fibres from circulation and can increase a garment’s lifespan up to threefold.

We use biodegradable detergents combined with ambient temperatures for a gentle yet effective clean. Each garment receives bespoke strain treatment and is hand-finished by one of our experts to ensure items maintain their shape, size and brightness. We have a rigorous quality control system in which all fashion garments are inspected before they are sent out to the next wearer. We guarantee no colour run, no shrinkage and no degradation. We also have the option for additional ozone treatment that destroys smells, germs, bacteria, and other contaminants - a must for circular and second-hand clothing.

Laundry and dry cleaning services are essential for any fashion rental business operations. At Oxwash, we partner with many fashion rental companies to deliver the highest and most sustainable cleaning for them, in order to keep the garments in the loop for longer.

Fashion Rental Platforms You Should Know About

‍ Hurr

Hurr is the pioneering, peer-to-peer fashion rental platform. From day one their priority has always been to extend the life of garments and reduce waste in the fashion industry by encouraging sustainable consumption in a community-led way. Giving everyone the opportunity to rent instead, means you can still get your kicks from the latest luxury trends and pieces, without burning a hole in your pocket or the planet.

Garmst

Garmst is a monthly shirt subscription service for men. Fuelled by the fact that the fashion industry contributes 10% of the world's total carbon dioxide, co-founders Jack & Gabby launched their subscription model as a disrupter to the men's garment industry.

Providing their subscribers with 4 shirts per month, Garmst is built on the foundation of convenience, personal style and sustainability, which is achieved with the help of their data-driven algorithm.

‍Loan The Look

Founded in 2020 by sisters, Isabella, Bea & Claudia, the trio wanted to encourage sisterly-like wardrobe sharing across the nation through their fashion rental platform, Loan The Look. They even have a studio in Holland Park to really bring the idea and feel of wardrobe sharing to life.

Loan The Look's aim is for all women to be able to express themselves through fashion and ignite that new dress feeling time and time again by creating a curated collection of unique, luxury garments. Fashion is a big part of social experience. It's fun to try out the latest trends, but what makes it even better is sharing those experiences with a community.

Rotaro

Rotaro was founded in 2019 with a powerful mission: ‘Rent. Reduce. Repeat.’. They aim to revolutionise the fashion industry, not only by turning away from throw-away fashion culture but making luxury fashion more accessible. Rotaro uses a carbon neutral delivery system, biodegradable packaging and sustainable wet cleaning with Oxwash.

‍Curated Loop

Newly launched, Curated Loop offer rental of unique fashion designer clothing. They are different from other rental companies as they provide a platform for dead stock and sample collections to be re-worn and kept in the Loop. Thinking outside of the box, Curated Loop will lend samples and one-off designs from up-and-coming and emerging brands. We are excited to see what’s more to come and have already signed up for their newsletter.

‍Kidswear Collective

Little ones grow so quickly! Regularly having to buy clothing for your children as they out-grow sizes every few months can be draining on your wallet and so wasteful for the planet. Every parent seems to have the same problem, which makes it so exciting that businesses like, Kidswear Collective, are paving the way for change. With Kids Collective not only can you rent but also sell your children’s clothes, keeping everything in circulation for longer. Engaging in renting and selling kidswear is a great way to clear space in your wardrobe, save and earn money, as well as support circular fashion and a more sustainable lifestyle.

‍Towards a better future

‍Our mission at Oxwash is to revolutionise how we clean garments in every way possible, so we can reduce our impact on the environment and encourage much-needed change within the laundry and cleaning industry. The traditional, over-consuming fashion model can’t continue the way it has been and the rental model is an important piece of the puzzle in this journey. We are proud to be partnering with so many like-minded fashion rental companies, striving towards a brighter and more sustainable future.

Trying out fashion rental is just so much fun and this is what fashion should be about; fun, confidence, and creating your unique identity, all without exploiting the environment. Rental is a truly sustainable way to explore your style and save some money along the way. So, try something new this year and rock this Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties with your fabulous rented outfits! Learn more about how Oxwash provides a better cleaning experience.

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