Have you noticed how the rental clothing trend is catching up? From the UK to France, Africa and even in our own big and small towns and cities, shop fascias are shouting out “rentals”.
Taboo mindset begone, a friend’s daughter the other day was enquiring from where to shop the best rentals for her cousin’s wedding programmes. To paraphrase her, she was just not “keen to waste thousands” to ensure that the dresses she buys get locked in her closet till the next wedding and “I anyways will not be able to wear these when Friend Y and Cousin Z get married end 2024! This was not in Delhi or Mumbai. This was a three-tier town where rental clothing was unheard of and taboo, many a household, even today.
So what’s with rentals? They are a good way to reduce overall fashion consumption. Research suggests that renting just one piece of clothing can save up to 24% water, 6% energy, and 3% CO2 emissions, when compared to buying a new item. Another research calculated the greenhouse gas emissions connected to how consumers own and dispose clothing, including renting, resale and recycling. Renting may not be the best option for the environment, considering the cleaning and transportation costs, but what it does indeed do is prolong the life of a garment and keep it in use for a longer period of time. A study claims that extending the life of a garment by an extra nine months reduces its carbon, water, and waste footprint by around 20-30% each, and cuts the cost in resources used to supply, launder and dispose of clothing by 20%.
Planet apart, rentals ensure that clothes do not remain unworn in your closet forever almost, and the perk is the money saved.
What helps is the sudden growth both online and physical brick-and-mortar shops that rent out clothing and jewellery at a cost. What they of course ensure is that the clothing is fitted to your size, drycleaned after every wear and before that of course repair, if needed.
In case you still think rentals is not for you but you still can’t bear to spend that much for once-in-a-while outfits, how about swapping with your friends and cousins? A blouse and dupatta from one friend, the skirt from another, change the styling of a sari you think you don’t wish to repeat so soon. The golden rule? Don’t shy away when your friend or cousin wants to borrow from you too!
