Sakshi Goel is an MBA graduate from NMIMS Mumbai. Before founding Rent N Flaunt, she worked as a program manager in TATA Research Development and design center, Fidelity, and Tredence. After learning the nitty grittiness of how a corporation as well as a start-up function, Sakshi decided to take a leap of faith and start her own venture. While growing up she was quite fascinated by luxury designer brands and would save every extra penny to indulge in them. Although growing up she realized that although her craze to own designer brands is valid, it is not sustainable, both environmentally as well as financially. This was the prime motivation for her and her siblings to start Rent N Flaunt. With this venture, she wanted to make luxury affordable, accessible, and also sustainable, thus came the idea of renting. Sakshi’s expertise is in product management, research and development, and data analytics.
With the lockdown, a very unique thing happened. People got time for themselves amidst all the hustle-bustle. There were so many amongst us who found their voice in fashion and their style along the line. Styling your outfits and getting dressed up for an occasion or otherwise became a choice, a bold statement to put out. Now how do you tell them to become a minimalist since all this causes pollution and shun their newfound love?
Well, that’s where the gap lies. There are certainly some brilliant ways of being a stylish diva without compromising on saving the planet. As a minimalist, you have to change your consumption style. The idea is to add things to your life that have immense value to you and you can do that without compromising your chic quotient.
One of the ways is renting. Renting doesn’t limit your choices but increases them infinitesimally. This way you aren’t adding to the overproduction and are also being a part of a cyclical economy. Renting seems like the perfect hack for minimalists who don’t want to compromise on their style.
Just like how we used to borrow clothes, and jewelry from our friends or family, similarly there are rental platforms now from where you can rent these out and never go out of style.
The fast fashion industry always wants to feed us with urgency. Every season the style changes, and so does your wardrobe. This is not only exhausting to keep up with, but is also extremely toxic for our planet. Right from production to its disposal, a multitude of natural resources is used and polluted. So with renting you can slay in style without slaying the planet, and I feel that’s one of the smart ways in which one should switch to a rental lifestyle.
There are many other reasons why rental is better than buying, or at least it is worth your attention:
1) Economic reasons: Buying an Rs. 75,000 Kundan set for your wedding isn’t the best investment that you can make if you don’t like heavy sets. If you rent these, it will cost you not more than 8,000 for 4 days and you can use the rest of the money on experiences. There’s always an opportunity cost attached to any purchase, renting can help you save that cost altogether!
2) Practical reasons: We all don’t like to wear jewelry in our day-to-day life. In fact in Indians jewelry is more like an investment, buying gold is auspicious. Investments give great returns, but they might not make any sense to fashion. Once you buy a jewelry set, neither that set will go with your every outfit nor you’d want to repeat that too often. In this case, renting becomes the perfect choice. You choose the best heavy or chic jewelry from various rental platforms, without committing to it. Consider it as a fling!
3) Sustainable choice: Rental lifestyle is more sustainable. When you rent, you increase the lifespan of a product. Most of the brands are fast fashion brands, and they indulge in mass production. All luxury handbag brands burn their unsold products. With the rental lifestyle not only the demand will be lesser but also the product’s life will increase making it slow. With a rental lifestyle, you can slay in style without slaying the planet.
4) Experiment: Experimenting is great, but it comes at a cost especially when accessories and that too designer accessories are concerned. The jewelry that you buy you might not want to wear the next year or it might go out of fashion. Renting accessories provides the best hack to experiment with style without it costing you a bomb.
5) Buying requires commitment: Especially when jewelry is involved, buying is a whole lot of commitment in terms of money and utility. Most of the time we mindlessly splurge in the name of retail therapy and then regret it for the very reason. Renting is like no strings attached–you use the jewelry, style it and return it.
Above all things renting or such alternative consumption lifestyle should be explored and is the need of the hour. The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries, and we all have a responsibility to lessen the impact. A rental lifestyle also makes you mindful, and that helps you make better choices, fashion or otherwise!