Fashion rental marketplace Rent the Runway was hit hard by the pandemic, as its subscribers mostly rented clothes to wear to events in person. However, the company survived by cutting costs, renegotiating supplier contracts and entering the apparel resale market. Today, the company is once again expanding that side of its business by bringing some of its pre-worn and other Amazon-exclusive items to a new partnership with Amazon Fashion.
On Thursday, Amazon announced the launch of a Rent the Runway Amazon Fashion showcase, which will feature a selection of pre-owned fashion goods from over 35 brands in multiple styles. These pre-worn items have been inspected, cleaned and restored, but may have minor blemishes – though nothing that would affect the physical integrity of the garment. Customers will be able to shop items for “weekend wear, work wear, date night wear and seasonal essentials like sweaters, tops, coats and denim,” Amazon said.
This isn’t the first time Rent the Runway has partnered with another retailer to help offload its pre-worn items.
The fashion subscription service survived 2020 by partnering with resale marketplace thredUP on a collection of previously rented designer clothing called “Revive by Rent the Runway” as well as Nordstorm Rack. Last year, Rent the Runway also began working with Saks Off 5th, which agreed to also sell Rent the Runway pre-worn clothing on its site. Plus, Rent the Runway itself sells pre-worn clothes on its website to customers who don’t have a subscription.
Image credits: Amazon x Rent the Runway
In addition to bringing pre-worn clothing to Amazon, Rent the Runway will also offer a selection of merchandise from the Design Collective through Amazon Fashion. These limited edition fashion collections are created by design talents including names like Thakoon and Peter Som, using Rent the Runway’s proprietary data and insights from its client base. Other designers include Adam Lippes, Marina Moscone and more, and will offer 1,000 styles in sizes 00-22 (although actual sizing may vary based on availability.)
With this launch, Amazon Fashion will be the first retailer to carry Design Collective’s new, unworn merchandise, aside from Rent the Runway itself.
Some of Design Collective’s items will also be made available through Amazon Prime’s Try Before You Buy offer, which allows for trials and home returns.
The move is another way Rent the Runway is seeking growth in a post-pandemic market. Covid could have easily destroyed Rent the Runway’s business – and, for a while, things looked dire. In 2020, the company’s active subscribers fell from 133,000 to 55,000, its losses increased and its stock decreased. It was just a year after Rent the Runway’s IPO.
To its credit, the business survived Covid and, in its most recent earnings, saw a growing return. In the third quarter of 2022, Rent the Runway beat Wall Street expectations with quarterly revenue of $77.4 million compared to the $72.9 million that analysts were expecting. It grew its active subscribers by 15% from the year-ago quarter to 134,240 and raised its financial outlook for the year to $293-295 million. (The company says the Amazon partnership was already factored into those predictions.)
“Partnering with Amazon Fashion brings incredible brand awareness to Rent the Runway,” said Jenn Hyman, co-founder and CEO of Rent the Runway, in a statement. “We believe that strategic relationships like this can ignite a new growth engine for our business. They also showcase the demand for our products beyond our community and allow more customers to experience exclusive fashion based on data from our leading design partners.”
Meanwhile, for Amazon, the partnership allows the retail giant to engage in another area – fashion reselling – without having to invest in creating its own resale marketplace. To date, Amazon has offered a way for consumers to browse pre-selected merchandise through its Amazon Renewed site, but that doesn’t include women’s fashion. Instead, it’s a way to pre-purchase consumer electronics like phones and smartwatches, plus gadgets, cameras, gaming gear and other home, kitchen and entertainment items.
It has only smaller investments in fashion resale through partners, including pre-loved mod Shopbop and the What Goes Around Comes Around brand store with Amazon Luxury Stores, focused on handbags, jewelry and accessories favorite, and some designer clothes.
“At Amazon Fashion, we continuously expand our assortment through strategic relationships with brands to inspire and delight our customers,” Muge Erdirik Dogan, President of Amazon Fashion, said in a statement. “The Rent the Runway Collection continues to enhance our offering in pre-loved and designer fashion.”
Starting today, customers will be able to browse and shop the Rent the Runway brand store via amazon.com/stores/renttherunway. Products qualify for free shipping with Prime and will allow returns through Amazon, not Rent the Runway’s stores.
