Inside Gen Z’s Obsession With Renting Everything

Like a typical Millennial or aging Gen Xer, the outside of my fridge is littered with wedding dates and engagement announcements. This means I spend a lot of time scrolling through the clothing rental app Newly, searching the grid for clothes to wear, and accumulating designs in my virtual closet. I’ve spent so much time critiquing each look in detail that I’ve even begun to recognize the outfits worn by other guests and I have a pretty good idea of ​​what to look for when I see a fellow newbie on the dance floor.

Over the past decade, fast fashion has come under criticism due to its environmental impact and exploitation of workers for low wages. In turn, thrifting and meeting strangers through Facebook Marketplace became chic — more than 1 billion people per month — and apps like Poshmark and Courtesy have made thrifting effortless, no matter how far away you live from your used Kate Spade bag. The change in mindset has made way for clothing rental apps like Newly, BNTO, and Pickle, which give shoppers access to current, high-quality, and designer items at extremely low prices.

Nuuly, owned by Urban Outfitters’ parent company Urbn, achieved its first profitable year in January. Pickle, an app that facilitates rentals from one person’s wardrobe to another—kind of like plundering your sister’s wardrobe—has more than 230,000 items available. BNTO, a clothing subscription and resale app that also sells new clothes, raised $15 million in a Series A fundraising round earlier this year. “For Gen Z, style isn’t just about affordability — it’s about exploration, sustainability and personal expression,” Notable, the VC firm that led the round, wrote last month. According to research firm Future Market Insights, the clothing rental market is worth approximately $2.6 billion, and is projected to grow to more than $6 billion over the next 10 years.

Instead of seeking status by buying trendy or designer items, buying secondhand and borrowed items has become a “cool thing to do,” says Shawn Gren Carter, professor of fashion business management at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “It doesn’t reflect your financial position within the world. There’s a certain condition to it that wasn’t there before.”

Fashion sense has become much less about the names you have in your wardrobe, and more about new, bold pieces you can post on social media once in a while.

Rent the Runway defined the clothing rental market when it launched in 2009, but the focus was on high-end designers for workwear and dress-up occasions, and the company collapsed during the pandemic when there were no places to wear Reformation gowns. Nuuly attracted young, mid-level shoppers, with its rental options ranging from more accessible brands like Urban Outfitters to pieces selling for a few hundred dollars. The company already had a stable production line of its own brands (Anthropology and Free People are also part of the family), and Grainne Carter told me this could make it easier for Newly to control and grow its offerings.

Isabella de Murguia, 27, has made more than $25,000 last year by renting out her wardrobe on Pickle.

Apps like Nuuly also followed the generalization of renting intimate items and spaces by other companies. Need a cheap room to relax? airbnb. A personal driver to your door? Choose to ride in someone’s back seat on Uber. Taking a risk on a dress that’s already been worn by multiple strangers doesn’t seem so weird anymore. “Without all of these things, we probably wouldn’t be where we are today,” says Brian McMahon, Pickle’s co-founder and CEO. “Borrowing someone else’s clothes is probably a little more intimate than sitting in the back of someone’s car using the spare bedroom.”
The acceptance of sharing is evident across demographics: According to the company, about 60% of Pickle users are Gen Z, while 40% are millennials. And it’s not just clothes — there’s Babyquip, which rents strollers and car seats to traveling families, and Tablescapes for glassware, plates and table decorations for hosting events. According to consumer insight research firm GWI, one in five Americans said in a 2022 survey that they prefer to rent a dress for a one-time event, and as of this year, 5 percent have subscribed for clothing, cosmetics and accessory shipping services, compared to 12% who have subscribed before (the survey included men and women in the US, but these types of services are overwhelmingly sought after and purchased by women).

On TikTok, people post videos of their stuff, just like they spend money on shopping trips — but showcasing their rentals violates both consumerism and the de-infusing movement, a social trend that discourages people from discarding products. Renting gives people the dopamine to make purchases without the guilt.

It seems that word of mouth and influencer marketing is paying off. Nuuly reported this month that it now has an average of 400,000 active monthly subscribers. Pickle has expanded since its debut in New York, and this year saw rents increase 195% in Los Angeles and nearly 500% in Miami. Rent the Runway announced it will be doubling its inventory this year, adding more styles in workwear, dresses, vacation and casual clothing. As of July, the company’s customers grew 13% year-over-year and revenue for the quarter topped $80 million.

For tenants, there could be potential murder. Isabella de Murguia, 27, who works in a consultancy, made more than $25,000 last year by renting out her wardrobe on Pickle. She calls the extra cash her “fun money”, and she uses it to travel on luxury vacations to places like Mykonos. De Mugueira told me she started renting clothes because she loves shopping and spends a lot of money on new outfits to wear on holidays or events. But later, they would sit in his closet and get ruined. Now, she spends just a few hours a week transitioning her wardrobe to the circular economy; Inventorying clothes, washing them, preparing them for pickup, and, in one case, hand-sewing tiny beads onto a popular top that had lost some of its wear when worn by some of its 30 borrowers. “Most of the time, I’ll buy what I like,” she tells me, “rather than just picking things because they’re trendy and might rent well.” He has found, “What I like is usually what other people will like.”

This seems to be the case for many people who rent clothes. Many of my friends are among the group of newly-minted customers—the app has thousands of items to rent, yet those of us with very different styles gravitate toward the same pieces. I once went to look at a review of a dress and saw a picture of my best friend wearing it (she didn’t like the fabric, and her review helped me avoid the same mistake). With the increasing purchasing power of rental subscriptions, perhaps it’s only a matter of time before we end up somewhere in matching outfits. At least we will be able to send them back at the end of the month.

amanda hoover He is a senior correspondent for Business Insider covering the tech industry. She writes about the biggest tech companies and trends.