With three days to go for Deepavali followed by the wedding season, Hyderabad is gearing up for a bouquet of celebrations. The Deepavali parties and all-important weddings and receptions are an exciting events to look one’s best. However, it is a dicey situation as buying new clothes for all the parties/weddings/receptions will leave a big dent in the pocket but one feels awkward to repeat the clothes. Instead, one can opt to rent party wear instead of buying it. Though not a new trend, renting party dresses/saris/suits has gained momentum in the last couple of years.
Look one’s best
At the newly-opened Flyrobe store in Banjara Hills, there is a splash of colour and shimmer as youngsters check out the collection. With operations in 15 cities across India, Flyrobe has more than 200 designers on board. “When one can rent a Ritu Kumar on a lesser cost, why would any one buy a local product?” asks Shreya Mishra, CEO and co-founder of Flyrobe. She asserts the concept has picked up because it is about looking one’s best and people are willing to upgrade.
Three-year-journey
It has been a three year journey for Wrapd in Hyderabad. And its owner Ritu Malhotra (whose sister Neeraj Wadhera founded the service in Delhi) sees promising times ahead. “Initially, when we launched people were closed to the idea. But they have opened up beautifully; They believe it is a practical solution,” she states. Ritu shares customers opt to rent because of its benefits. “Monetarily, it is easy on the pocket. One gets variety, gets a piece as per the body requirements and the fact that you get to wear the latest trend. This way, one doesn’t have to wear the same piece which one has invested in two years back,” she enthuses and adds, “Moving with the times helps one to be on par and one doesn’t get to repeat the dress which is the icing on the cake.”
Ritu credits youngsters for taking the service forward in Hyderabad. “Youngsters have opened the doors of society to us. The parents were a little hesitant initially as auspicious occasions are to be taken care of in a different way. Now we have youngsters bringing their parents to show the dress they are picking up.”
The high-end outfits are easily accessible and one can feel special wearing the designer wear. Shreya observes most of their customers are men and women in 25 to 35 age bracket. “They are very much interested in this concept because it makes so much practical.”
Suits for men
Naveen Shah of ‘Suits U’ points out how they started the service five years ago. “At a relative’s wedding, we cousins realised that we were all repeating our suits. We wondered every year there will be some weddings and family functions to attend and we will all be looking the same. We felt awkward to wear the suit two to three times in a year,” he recalls. Initially, there were no customers but later the service picked up.
When Shreya points out the festivities bring in more customers, the statement evokes mixed feelings. Shopping for festivals/weddings is a special feeling and one shares a bond with the clothes and has many memories associated with it. When we tell her why would anyone want to rent clothes for a special occasion, she retorts, “This year over 5000 brides rented from us. It is a personal choice and you can’t generalise them. Memories are about looking one’s best and in the pictures. If a bride is planning to buy a ₹40,000 lehenga, with that amount she can rent ₹4 lakh lehenga. It doesn’t matter if you’ve rented or not, it is about enjoying the moment and getting the best compliment.”
