“There’s dry-cleaning and warehouse operations and all that stuff.

“Part of the difficulty for men’s rental services is that the logistics of rental are really complicated,” said Andrew Blackmon, CEO of men’s formalwear rental service The Black Tux. Companies like Rent the Runway might have a harder time building up a male audience if they decided to branch out into men’s since they have no real relationship with male customers to speak of. But I think that’s changing now.”Īdditionally, there is the problem of audience acquisition. Our grandfathers wore the same cardigans, the same khakis - things you don’t really need to rent. “The only men’s rental platform that comes close to is Black Tux, but they only rent one thing,” he said. “Men’s has traditionally been less adventurous than women’s. And for something like sneakers, men are probably more likely to want to buy and resell them, rather than rent.”Ĭhika Achebe, co-founder of men’s streetwear rental service The Mercer Club, expressed a similar opinion in April. Suits are one area, but those are more often for events. “Women also have a lot more options, in terms of what kinds of clothes they can wear.

“Generally speaking, guys tend to buy a lot of the same thing, while women buy a little of many different things,” said Richie Siegel, founder and lead analyst at retail consultancy Loose Threads. There are some categorical differences between men’s and women’s fashion that affect whether rental makes sense. Since then, men’s has continued to be the more popular side of the business. Collection, before expanding to women’s clothes in 2014. Women spend twice as much as men on clothing.” And in general, women are more widely represented in fashion, including among influencers. “Guys don’t typically go over to their friends house to borrow some shirts. They keep the pieces for as long as they like, and monthly subscriptions range from $60 to $90. Collection, a combination rental and styling service - customers rent a box with a mix of casual and upscale brands that are picked for them, based on a questionnaire. “Part of it is women being more comfortable with borrowing clothing,” said Vladimir Paniouchkine, founder of The Mr. But a survey of the fashion rental landscape reveals only a few options for men, mainly in the form of event-focused rental services offering tuxedos and formalwear.

Rent the runway men