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Jennifer Hyman, Jennifer Fleiss, Sarah Tam and Alexis Bryan Morgan.
Reimagining Retail
Rent the Runway is getting into everyday dressing and making a big push for new showrooms.
Rent the Runway expects to rent out the retail equivalent of $1.35 billion worth of fashion goods this year, a gain of more than $500 million over 2014. To get there, the company is moving to version 2.0, adding sportswear to its rental mix and opening more physical outposts.
Starting Thursday, Rent the Runway will offer apparel across every category from brands such as Derek Lam, Nina Ricci, Giambattista Valli, Carven and Opening Ceremony. That's a big step for the e-tailer, which established itself renting out looks for special occasions.
"This is how the subscription should be used," cofounder and chief executive officer Jennifer Hyman told WWD at the brand's Manhattan headquarters. "This is as critical to [the consumer] for how they could think about getting dressed as to how a Spotify is to listening to music. The goal is to change the level of engagement of membership so they see us as more than a place catering to special events."
Apparel is just part of the new equation, though.
The company's fifth physical outpost will open in Chicago, also on Thursday. And The Real Runway, a new content...