Rent the Runway Finds Customers Make the Best Models

Rent the Runway, an online company that allows consumers to borrow designer clothing and accessories (for a fee), has unveiled a new social-shopping platform with 12,000 customer photos to see how the different items hang on different body shapes.

Over the past year, the company has been collecting input from users and found that more than 35% of users chose to post photos and reviews of the items they rented. These photos and reviews were posted for free and without any incentive.

“You haven’t seen this diversity of models anywhere else,” says Jennifer Hyman, CEO and co-founder.

The site offers a variety of dress and accessories by a revolving roster of 160 designers including Oscar de la Renta and Stella McCartney. Users of the site can rent dresses and formal accessories for a few days, at about 10 percent of the retail cost. Now visitors  can perform find-women-like-me searches, ask questions of the other wearers and choose to see only real life women rather than models wearing the clothing.

Ms. Hyman says she was surprised at how much detail was given within the submitted reviews. The majority listed height, weight, body type and bust size. “What it’s all about is, ‘Will it look good on me?’ and ‘Will I feel comfortable?’ They like to  see how they will look in a dress before they rent it from someone who looks like them, and they’re willing to pay it forward”.  By using data provided by customers for customers, Rent the Runway is able to access real time data, provide functionality, and increase customer interaction with each other and the site.