A haute Rent'iquette!

How often have you said or heard others say, “I have nothing to wear!’ even when their wardrobes are overflowing? Don’t want to repeat that designer dress for the next party, then these young Bengaluru based entrepreneurial startups mydream wear, rentique and klozee might be just what you want.

Soma Ghosh Kohli of my-dream-wear.com shares, “I completed my masters in computer science and engineering and had a corporate R&D stint at CDAC, HP and other MNC’s until the entrepreneur bug bit me and I resigned from Samsung Research India’s principal engineer’s post. I took a leap of faith, giving up a fat pay cheque and wanted a lifestyle change, when I got selected to IIM Bangalore for their women entrepreneurship programme and started my dreamwear. It was born when I saw Punjabi brides wearing jewellery they didn’t own — they rented them and some guests happily borrowed saris and jewellery for special occasions.

At the MPWE programme we had a case study on Rent The Runway — how a couple of Harvard students started designer dress rentals and now it is a multi million dollar business. The trend of renting designer wear that I do is catching up fast in Bengaluru.” Another entrepreneur who is urging people to stop buying and start renting to promote an economy that thrives on sharing is Param Solanki of rentique.in. “The trend of rentals in fashion is picking up as it solves problems like a new dress everytime, avoiding repeating a dress, spending less on a new dress and not cramping up your wardrobe space. Not just girls, we’ve seen a huge demand from boys too for blazers and suits.

After graduation and two years of working with my dad’s company of home appliances, the idea of rentique came to me when I was in a need of a suit, that would be of no use to me again and I decided to borrow it from someone. That’s when I thought of working on this concept and felt that everyone needs to experience high fashion, even those who cannot own it. Our rental sums to approximately 10 per cent of the price of the garment that is rented out for three days.”

Fashionistas in the city aren’t shying away from hiring dresses for that special holiday, birthday, wedding or a black tie night out. Ankasha Tejam an entrepreneur adds, “I don’t like to repeat clothes that’s why I’ve already decided to rent a designer brand for my friend’s milestone anniversary bash this month. I’m sure I’m going to make heads turn.” This concept is just what every fashionista needs.