URBN, the portfolio of major clothing brands including Urban Outfitters, Free People and Anthropologie, has set its sights on a new slice of the retail market: clothing rental. The group has created Nuuly, a subscription-based service that will launch in the US this summer.
The $88 per month service is part of URBN’s plan to keep up with changing consumer habits—particularly to satisfy the need for novelty without ditching sustainability. An initial selection of 1,000 pieces of women’s fashion will be available, in sizes from 00 to 26, comprising everything from dresses to seasonal outwear. Third-party brands including Reebok and Fila will be included, offering clothes for multiple occasions—work, vacation, special events and sports events.
“Nuuly subscribers will select their styles each month, wear them as often as they like, then swap into new styles next month, infusing freshness and variety into their wardrobes,” URBN explains in a press release.
“If they fall in love with something they’re renting, they can purchase it.”
Users will be able to select six items each month, which URBN says will provide subscribers with over of $800 worth of retail value per month for a tenth of the price.
As reported by Treehugger, several large companies have made similar steps in recent years, including a furniture rental service by Ikea and a peer-to-peer clothes lending service by Tulerie. Rent the Runway, a rental service focused on designer gowns, was valued at a billion dollars this March.
“Since our founding in 1970, our company philosophy has been to give our customers the creative, compelling shopping experience they desire,” commented Richard A. Hayne, CEO and chairman of Urban Outfitters.
“Nuuly is the next step in that mission, and with it, we set out to be the subscription fashion leader by offering an unmatched curation of aspirational brands, coupled with extraordinary value.”