Sisterhood of the travelling pants: The rise of holiday wardrobe rentals

If Australian producers were re-making the 2005 coming-of-age film The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, it may go something like this: four women, who have never met, each take the same pair of pants to the four corners of the globe, but instead of blue jeans, the pants are silk, by on-trend brand Alemais, and instead of the women buying the pants, they rent them.

Mia Roth owns Melbourne-based rental business Lone Dress Hire, and says the Alemais set in question, from the Sydney-based brand’s resort 2023 collection, “is better travelled than I am”. Already this year, the sold-out outfit, which cost $890 to buy and rents for $199 for three weeks, has been to Italy and the New Orleans Jazz Festival. Next month, it’s off to Greece with Melbourne woman Eva Daly, who works in public relations for a toy company.

Daly, 40, is among a growing number of consumers renting their wardrobes to take on their holidays this winter instead of buying new clothes for the European summer. She cites sustainability and cost among her reasons for renting, as well as the opportunity to dress outside her usual style.

“Traditionally, I would steer towards a capsule wardrobe, there’s a lot of black [and] linen. If I choose to invest in an item, it tends to fit into that. But when you go on holidays, it’s good to have a bit of fun,” she says.

Younger renters, such as Alisha Marfatia, 27, admits one of the reasons she rents, as well as the cost saving against buying new, is to avoid repeating the same outfit on social media. “Every time I travel, [choosing outfits to rent] gives me something extra to look forward to,” says Marfatia, who owns a social media marketing agency. “It’s great for [creating] content as well.”

A bonus is never having to dread the washing and dry cleaning upon returning home – just pop the outfits in a return postage bag, and they’re as good as gone.

Over the past few years, the popularity of fashion rentals has grown rapidly as large companies, such as Glam Corner, and peer-to-peer platforms like The Volte, chase a share of the market, which is predicted to reach $US7 billion ($10.29 billion) by 2025, according to research by Statista.

But what began mostly as a model to service guests attending formal occasions, such as weddings, has ballooned into “every day” rentals, including work attire and maternity wear. This year’s hottest trend is the holiday capsule – women renting mostly three or four pieces by designers including Rebecca Vallance and Zimmermann.