Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.

Rent the Runway’s Long Road Ahead to Profitability

The rental platform’s revenue is up from last year — with the number of active subscribers more than doubling — but both figures still remain below pre-pandemic levels.

Rent the Runway offers customers access to an "unlimited" closet. Rent the Runway. (Rent the Runway)

Cathaleen Chen

14 April 2022

BoF PROFESSIONAL

Rent the Runway has had a deeper hole to climb out of than most fashion companies during the pandemic. Demand for event wear and office clothes, the rental service’s two key markets, vanished almost overnight in March 2020. The platform has spent the past two years trying to

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Why Fashion Still Hasn’t Cracked Rental

The recent shuttering of rental start-up Seasons highlights how logistics costs and uncertain cash flow have dimmed the prospects of a once-hot retail concept.

Unpacking Rent the Runway’s IPO

The rental platform may have redeemed its unicorn status on the public market, but critics are wary of its long-term growth potential.

Rental and Resale Were Supposed to Be the Future. Could Coronavirus Change That?

While the whole apparel sector is challenged by the ongoing crisis, fast-growing of rental and resale platforms may be uniquely and disproportionately impacted.

About the author

Cathaleen Chen

Cathaleen Chen is Retail Editor at The Business of Fashion. She is based in New York and drives BoF’s coverage of the retail and direct-to-consumer sectors.

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