The retail industry: Women have long “borrowed” special-occasion dresses from department
stores, buying them and then returning them after one night wearing them. Now,
Rent the Runway (www.renttherunway.com) has redefi ned the fashion business, making
expensive clothing available to more women than ever before. The fi rm is also disrupting
traditional physical retailers. After all, why buy a dress when you can rent one for a very
low price? Some department stores feel so threatened by Rent the Runway that they have
reportedly told vendors that they will pull fl oor merchandise if it ever shows up on that
company’s Web site.
Rent the Runway employs 200 people, including one of the nation’s largest dry-cleaning
operations. Their Web site has more than 3 million members, and it features 35,000 dresses
and 7,000 accessories created by 170 designers.