Rent the Runway expanding number of physical locations, adding sportswear

Rent the Runway is probably one of the the greatest pillars to ever be erected in the fashion industry. This year the luxury rental clothing site expects to rent out the equivalent of 1.35 billion dollars worth of fashion goods, an increase of 500 million dollars from last year. There was no magic formula to their success, but, rather, two key ingredients: sportswear and brick-and-mortar stores.

As of yesterday, Rent the Runway now offers apparel from the likes of Derek Lam, Nina Ricci, Giambattista Valli, Carven, and Opening Ceremony. This is quite a move for a company that started out as a simple dress rental company. The new goal of Rent the Runway, however, is to be seen as more than just an e-tail space to turn to for special events.

Expanding their apparel offerings is just the first layer on top of the cake. Yesterday, the company opened their fifth brick-and-mortar store in Chicago. The company is also big on female empowerment, too. Ahead of the launch of their fifth brick-and-mortar store, they have launched The Real Runway, a content strategy based on "real women" or, as CEO Jennifer Hyman describes them, "smart entrepreneurial women," or SEW's.

The secret to Rent the Runway's success lies is their incredible team. First, she added Alexis Bryan Morgan, formerly of Lucky, as director of design relations and special projects. Next, she hired Sarah Tam, formerly of Saks Fifth Avenue, as their Senior Vice President of merchandising and planning.

This brought the staff from the company to 350, an increase of 50 from 300 last year. Their next goal after expanding their corporate team is to add more doors. They aren't looking to add traditional retail stores, but, rather, appointment only locations. They are currently eyeing Los Angeles, Houston, and Boston for these potential locations. The price for an appointment at a Rent the Runway location is 25 dollars.

In addition to adding more brick-and-mortar locations, Rent the Runway is also looking to add more apparel beyond traditional evening wear or dresses for events. Tam is spearheading the effort to add more contemporary and designer labels, such as Kaufman Franco and Naeem Khan. It's now very possible for Rent the Runway to become a regular habit as well.

The company launched a subscription service last July with a 75 dollar unlimited rental fee for bags, scarves, sunglasses, hats, outerwear, and jewelry. They recently added dresses to the mix and increased the fee to 99 dollars. Rent the Runway might be seeing excellent success, but, Hyman has stated she is not expecting the company to become a highly profitable endeavor quite yet, although it is expected to turn a profit before taxes and depreciation according to WWD. Either way, business is certainly going well, so, Rent the Runway is turning into a bigger success than even they may realize, one beloved by those who may just want that designer purse for the night.