EXPLORING THE WORLD OF FASHION RENTALS
Blouse and vinyl trousers - Mykke Hofmann
If you haven’t heard, the new clothing rental trend offers a cost-effective alternative to buying new outfits for every occasion, while allowing you to experiment and enjoy creative expression without completely overloading your wardrobe. So since I last spoke about my adventures with renting clothes, I’ve been exploring more platforms.
One of my latest trials is Onloan, a fashion rental service that operates on a monthly subscription basis. They carry cult brands from By Malene Birger to ALEXACHUNG with a fantastic curated selection, and all those shipping, cleaning and minor mending fees are included in the subscription price, so no need to be too cautious — just very caring! As for the plan options, you can choose whether to rent 2, 3 or 5 items for the month, at a fraction of the retail price for the clothes you get to wear.
I trialled the service for a month and these are some of the outfits and pieces I fell in love with. The team curated a selection of pieces for me, based on some of my style references, and sent some pieces I wouldn’t have picked for myself but actually really enjoyed wearing. And if you absolutely love a designer piece, you can share the love and make some money by renting it with peer to peer rental sites such as HURR and By Rotation as another great way to make your clothes go further. Another, more sustainable option to purchasing is swapping with friends (something my friends Emma and Sjaniel and I have been doing for years), rummaging through charity shops (check out my recent haul with The New York Times), vintage shops and carboots — that’s where I’ve been lucky enough to find some of my favourite accessories over the years!
House of Dagmar is built on three pillars: Design, Ethics and Longevity. The brand prides itself on creating timeless clothes made from long-lasting materials to offer garments with a longer lifespan than the average clothing item. Throughout their production processes, they work with suppliers who take care of their employees and work with production methods that are not endangering or harming the ecosystem. House of Dagmar uses certified viscose, organic cotton, friendly fur, mulesing-free merino wool, recycled polyester, chrome-free leather, lyocell fibers and eco-regenerated cashmere, among other eco fabrics, as well as striving to develop their own.
Top - Ciao Lucia
One of my new discoveries via Onloan is Ciao Lucia, a Californian label creating lots of light pieces you would want to wear at the beach, by the pool, and in that hot summer weather. Inspired by places like the French Riviera and the Amalfi Coast, the brand’s collections have lots of vintage references (which could just be why I love it!).
Mykke Hofmann is a female design collective with Balkan roots, headquartered in Munich and with a cosmopolitan heart. The brand’s collections embrace a mix of alluringly feminine styles with oversized and laid-back elements, and are created for women with attitude. The brand is 100% sourced in Europe. Mykke Hofmann runs its own little production site in Serbia and today employs approximately 40 women. This gives the brand full control over the production process and working conditions. They pay their workers 50% above the average regulated by the local government.
Dress - Dagmar