(Newswire.net — December 4, 2019) — Stockholm – Swedish fashion company H&M has begun testing potential clothing rental services.
They decided to take this step because the fashion industry is in the midst of increasing public criticism of the waste and pollution it produces in the manufacturing process, Bloomberg reports.
According to Bloomberg, consumers can rent garments every week valued at 350 Crone ($ 37) worth of clothing at H&M’s renovated Sergels Torg Main Store in downtown Stockholm.
The Swedish company, following the example of competitors such as Banana Republic and Urban Outfitters, which launched similar services earlier this year to enter the $1 billion market in 2018, announced the expansion of this concept to other markets on which H&M operates.
In the trial phase, H&M limited its rent from a collection of 50 garments, but not all customers can loan out clothes because the offer only applies to members of the company’s loyal clientele program.
H&M will evaluate the results of this trial business concept in three months, before any further expansion of the practice.
“We have a huge belief in rental, but we still want to test and learn quite a lot and do tweaks and changes,” Daniel Claesson, Head of Business Development at H&M.
“I’d be surprised if you can’t really make it work as a business model,” he said, adding that he is confident that the price involved in a rental model really makes sense.
The garment industry is under increasing scrutiny, responsible for as much as 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and consuming more energy than aviation and shipping combined, according to the United Nations.
Renting clothes is gaining more popularity in Europe. In the UK, Girl Meets Dress’s founder, Anna Bance, says the shift towards a more everyday role for rentals is happening at her firm, which started out predominantly lending designer dresses.
“Already it’s not just for special occasions,” says Ms Bance. Some customers may want one dress a year “for their husband’s work do in the city” but others are changing their habits and hiring a couple of dresses a week.