LONDON — Less than a year after crossing a funding threshold of 10 million pounds, the circular clothing platform Hurr has hit a new, long-awaited rental milestone.
The business, which operates peer-to-peer rentals and works with more than 130 brand partners including Net-a-porter, Selfridges, Ganni, Nensi Dojaka and Coperni, has rented 100 million pounds’ worth of fashion since its launch in 2018.
Hurr, which does not own any merchandise, operates peer-to-peer and brand-to-consumer platforms.
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It builds its own technology to facilitate the rental of more than 85,000 luxury fashion items that are currently on the site. It also applies its proprietary technology to its partners’ businesses, powering rental platforms for online and physical retailers and brands.
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Cofounder and chief executive officer Victoria Prew said the 100 million pounds rental target was set when the company launched, and achieving it is “proof that fashion rental works. It’s a huge opportunity for the retailers, the brands, and the customers who want that different way of shopping.”
Although the company promotes “access over ownership,” Prew said in an interview she does not want people to stop buying new.
“We want them to buy better, and we see rental as the number-one way of discovering new fashion. You rent something from a brand, and if you love it, you can then purchase it in a more considered way,” she said.
According to Hurr, 80 percent of customers say they are more likely to purchase from a brand if they have rented from it first.
Over the past year, Hurr has also been refining its model with the launch of Hurr Flex, a credit system that allows for longer-term and multiple rentals that last up to 30 days.
Hurr launched the service in May after seeing a surge in consumer demand for more flexible terms. She said it’s clear that clients are broadening their reach and moving beyond occasion wear into everyday clothing.
“According to the early data points we’re seeing, we’re renting everything from the Toteme scarf coat, to the Burberry trench, to the Ganni knit vest. They’re not just the statement pieces that you rent for four days,” she said.
Although Hurr’s core business is rental, the site also allows customers to purchase their favorite pieces, and even re-list them for rental on the site. Last year, Hurr’s top peer-to-peer lender made 100,000 pounds in revenue.
Merchandise doesn’t last long on the site. Hurr’s policy is to list pieces on its resale channel after they’ve been rented around 20 times, and even that channel is growing.
“We are a rental-first business, but we are also building an entirely 360-degree, circular proposition, of which resale is a very, very quickly growing part. I see a lot of convergence between rental and resale, and we always talk about resale basically being an extended version of rental,” Prew said.
Hurr’s backers include Octopus Ventures, Praetura Ventures, Ascension and D4 Ventures. With their support, Prew is pursuing more category and sector expansion with a particular emphasis on outerwear and skiwear, both of which outperformed in 2023.
In the next months, Prew said Hurr will announce its first partnership with a luxury brand, although she declined to say which one.
The business is ultra-responsive to trends, too, looking closely at what people are wearing at music festivals and other public events. Hurr will often create a related edit on the site, or reach out to the relevant brands to do a deal.
Hurr hit its latest milestone at a time when rental is top of mind, in the U.K. in particular.
Last month, the new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, his wife Victoria Starmer, and top members of the Labour party cabinet were found to have accepted thousands of pounds of free clothing and other gifts from wealthy party donors.
While accepting those types of donations is within the rules, the politicians failed to disclose the gifts in a timely and transparent way. The prime minister and his colleagues were criticized and ridiculed in the U.K. media, and finally said they would no longer accept any further donations of clothing.
The media furor also prompted public speculation about why politicians and their spouses don’t rent their clothes for public occasions, like Britain’s former First Lady Carrie Johnson. Johnson, the wife of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, rented her wedding dress, and a series of outfits for the 2021 G7 summit from My Wardrobe HQ.
Rentals are big business, and it’s not just Hurr that’s growing.
Rent the Runway, a publicly listed company, pioneered the rental category. While it has had to cut back and fine-tune its strategies in recent years, sales are on the upswing and losses are narrowing.
Later this week, RTR will head on a college tour throughout the U.S. Southeast and Texas to bring its fashion to major universities and to a style-hungry Gen Z audience.
Fashion rental stores, showrooms and other services have also been multiplying across Los Angeles. One of the most recent showrooms to open is called The Show Must Go On, which was founded by the Hollywood stylist and costume designer Zerina Akers.