Could it be time to rent your children’s clothes?
2020 is the year when fashion rental went mainstream. But should childrenswear be next on your list to loan? And is it safe?
In 2020, our life is officially for rent. From houses and holiday homes to super yachts and sports cars, to bikes, watches, handbags, pets, clothes and wedding dresses, you name it. We are gradually divorcing from a fixation on ownership in favour of experiencing what we want, when we want it, then sending it back.
And today, luxury dress rental platform My Wardrobe HQ has added another category to the rental options available, with the launch of Europe’s first rental and resale marketplace for luxury childrenswear.
Responding to demand from its existing client base of fabulously dressed women, the platform has extended its high-end offering to children – or ‘little sharers’ as the brand coyly describes them.
Just as with its main womenswear rental business, tiny sharers can rent or buy a range of designer stock, not only from the current season, but also runway items, exclusive press or un-produced sample sets and capsule collections, from everyday clothing to smarter designer outfits for special occasions such as birthdays, christenings and weddings.
Stocking boys’ and girls’ clothing from 12 months to 12 years, the platform has launched with an array of chic childrenswear brands.
Not only does it make little financial sense to splurge a fortune on children’s clothes when they grow out of them within a matter of months, sharing kids clobber is also a sustainable solution to the issue of an estimated £140 million worth of clothing ending up in landfill annually in the UK alone.
So how does it work? Simply browse the site and choose the chic kiddie garms you wish to rent (hire periods are from 4 to 14 days), then once you’re done, return it using the free via pre-paid DPD return label and My Wardrobe take care of dry cleaning and ironing. There are also full refunds for any unworn items, and for anything you can’t bear to part with, there’s the option to buy your rental and keep it for life. The next step will be a monthly subscription service, where customers pay a monthly fee allowing a set number of outfit changes over that time.
For those with Covid-based hygiene fears, My Wardrobe assures that its Ozone cleaning system “kills bacteria and viruses so that every item is disinfected, sanitised and deodorised in between rentals, and leaves clothes in a state of medical grade cleanliness, making them safer than one would find garments when buying them from stores.”
