If 20 years ago, someone had pitched a business idea that was about shared services and goods, we would not quite have believed them. The traditional customer of the yesteryears was someone who took pride in owning a private car or vacation home. But given that the nature of the global economy has changed, so have the buying behaviours of today’s customers. The current era has given birth to the ‘sharing economy’, which is made up of multibillion-dollar players such as Uber and Airbnb, which have changed the way in which people consume goods and services. In this article, we will analyse the nature of this shifting economy, how it has given birth to the trend of renting apparel, and what it really means for the industry.
RENTING VERSUS BUYING
In the pre-2010 era, nearly every traditional business model was a viable reality. At that time, the benefits of lower competition and simpler market structures created a middle class. For most developed and developing economies, the rules of trade were straightforward. But as the internet and mobile devices proliferated, we rapidly discovered that the middle class also changed, and was no longer capable of making long-term commitments in the face of global economic disruption and instability.
In fact, it was in the wake of the Great Recession of 2007–08 that we truly started to see the rise of the sharing economy. Companies such as Uber, TaskRabbit, Lyft, and many others began offering lower-cost services to a yearning consumer base. This has proved more successful than anyone could have ever imagined. For example, Airbnb, a leading player in the hospitality industry, rivals some of the largest hotel chains in the world, what with presence in thousands of cities across more than a hundred countries. The service has attracted over millions of people as hosts, who have, in turn, served well over 400 million guests.
This story is from the December 2019 edition of Apparel.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 2019 edition of Apparel.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
All About Dressing As You Want
A. Das uncovers the current trend which is all about dressing as you want. Easy, over-sized, baggy fits and unstructured cuts are ruling every wardrobe.
Online Shopping Likely To Reach $1.2 Trillion By 2025
Market Watch
Weaving A Sustainable Future
Brinda Gill talks to Ashita Singhal, awardwinning weaver, designer and social entrepreneur, and founder, Paiwand Studio, who is committed to converting textile waste into new, meaningful textiles.
Summer of 2022
Heer Kothari walks our eager onlookers through the runways of New York, Milan and Paris, exploring the nuance of summer styling for men in 2022
Journeying for the Joth
Brinda Gill drafts the interesting journey of Vinay Narkar, a textile designer and revivalist based in Solapur, spared no effort in the pursuit of joth, one of the lost weaves of Maharashtra, and reviving it.
Go Digital - Get Organised Reshamandi Style!
Heer Kothari explores India’s first and largest market-place, digitising the natural textile supply chain. It is a full stack ecosystem in the form of a super app, starting from farm to fashion.
Erotissch – Stitching differently
Chitra Balasubramaniam explores Erotissch, a brand by women for women, based on the concept of ‘Bed to street wear'.
Colourful Fable
A. DAS interviews Karan Torani to find out the inspiration behind the designs of his label Torani and his thoughts on it being widely welcomed and connected well.
Going #PLUS
Heer Kothari explores the growth of the Plus Size apparel segment in India.
Endorsing Desi Oon
Brinda Gill discovers India’s indigenous wools, locally called Desi Oon, which hold potential for use in the apparel industry