In the previous weeks we talked about the success of online clothing retailers asos.com and the influence in the fashion industry of the photo blog thesartorialist.com.
This week we will talk about a very interesting kind of online business, that thanks to the infamous DNI (digital network individualization) capabilities of the Internet are democratizing people’s access to their fashion objects of desire.
How does it work? It’s simple. Instead of spending hundreds or thousands of pounds to buy one handbag or one dress, that you will probably wear only a few times, now you can hire for a short period and at a reasonable price a gorgeous handbag or dress and then return it afterwards. Some websites offering this service are www.girlmeetsdress.com and http://designerhandbaghire.com.
The first one with its nice domain name (much more appealing than the dull name of the second one) is if course a website where girls can browse, borrow, wear and return the dresses of their dreams. The prices start at £31 a day. Currently they promise delivery by post in three days anywhere in the UK, but soon they will have a same-day delivery service in London. The labels are top ones such as Fendi, Marc Jacobs and 3.1 Philip Lim.
The second website offers a similar service with designer handbags. You can rent a bag from £30 for up to a month. And if you become a member for £9.99 a month you have discounts in the rentals. There are all the usual suspects: Prada, Chloe, Chanel, etc.
I think all this business models would not be feasible in the bricks and mortar world, for problems such as keeping stock, attracting customers willing to try it, scopes of scale, etc.
The DNI world has made it possible. This is fashion democracy. This is online revolution. Are you up for it?
