The Swedish fashion retailer is testing a new service at its flagship store in Stockholm.
Swedish giant H&M one of the latest major international fashion retailers to enter the $1 billion clothing rental market. The company is testing a new service at its flagship store in Stockholm, offering items from various collections for rent to customers of its own loyalty program. The initiative is aimed at responsible consumption and solving global environmental problems.
The rental price is currently 350 CZK for one item per week, which is equivalent to approximately 2400 rubles. The client can rent no more than three articles at the same time. In total, about 50 items from a special collection of more environmentally friendly materials “Conscious Exclusive 2012-2019” are presented to the choice of buyers. The rental service operates in a separate room on the territory of the store, the rental price includes the services of an individual stylist.
“We love to offer our customers something extra, and we also want our customers to look at fashion differently, striving to bring change to this industry,” commented H&M.
At the same time, a project is being piloted in the flagship store to repair clothes received from regular customers. The company plans to test the new service in Stockholm for three months. After that, H&M can scale the project and launch the service in other stores, including outside the home market.
Previously, a number of large fashion retailers launched a clothing rental service in the United States, including Banana Republic and Urban Outfitters. The initiatives are being implemented under pressure from non-profit organizations, noting the negative impact of the fashion industry on the environment.
According to UN estimates, up to 10% of all greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere at various stages of clothing production. At the same time, the industry consumes more energy than all international flights and water transport combined. In recent years, the fashion industry has come under considerable criticism for excessive water consumption and pollution of the planet, as well as poor working conditions in developing countries. H&M, like many other "big" companies, is gradually moving to "green" model business and plans to fully offset greenhouse gas emissions from its own production by 2040.