by contributor Wendy Gordon
Photo credit: Courtesy of RTR
DC’s looking a whole lot better; and it’s not just because it’s the holiday season.
Dot com website for fashionistas with limited closet space and perhaps the same in their wallets, Rent the Runway, has opened a brick and mortar store at 3336 M Street, NW in Georgetown. This is the largest store to date. A preview of the space and all within was held on Monday evening with founders Jenn Hyman and Jenny Fleiss, and designer Christian Siriano.
Let’s face it, what woman doesn’t love sashsaying through rows and rows of big name clothing and accoutrements? Add some wine and noshes from Napoleon café, and it’s just kind of the perfect evening. The place was packed.
The procedure is simple: For a $25 fee, customers can book an appointment online at www.renttherunway.com/stores, create their style profile and upon arrival they will be paired with a personal stylist to provide a one-on-one styling consultation as they try on dresses and accessories to complete head-to-toe look. Continuing the ease and convenience of the “Virtual Closet,” fitting rooms will be equipped with iPad minis that have scan-to-screen capabilities for stylists to upload each dress tried on and add comments for future reference. Walk-in appointments are also welcome — all this for a fraction of the price of buying the outfit itself. Oh yeah, and there are accessories as well.
“We are really looking to bring women an opportunity to rent dresses of their designer. Jenn and Jenny have really taken the opportunity to democratize fashion, making it accessible to women in all walks of life, “ said Damion West, the store’s assistant manager. “DC is full of smart women who understand that making an investment in fashion isn’t necessary, especially when you have an enormous amount of designers at your fingertips. So you get the access to multiple wares, you don’t have to make a huge investment, and you have the opportunity to be photographed endlessly and never repeat.” With that last statement, although a native New Yorker, we can tell Damion understands DC very well.
The space is vast with ‘snowball’ chandeliers, gold and white adornments, large, fully loaded dressing rooms (think Nu-bras, Hollywood tape and mirrors abounding), display areas for jewelry, handbags and more and rows and rows of dresses from casual to formal just ripe for the picking. All one has to do is add the shoes. We can all do that, can’t we?
Designer (and local boy) Christian Siriano is well represented as part of the Rent the Runway collection, featuring a bevy of his expertly styled garments. “I try to do things that are feminine—very girly and feminine—romantic. I want them to be classic and wearable, but the colors are exciting, the prints are exciting, and fabrics are really important. My fabrics—I want them to be luxurious. They’re the same Italian fabrics I use in my normal collection. I think that nuance is really important,” Siriano said. “Not everyone can afford a designer dress and that’s what Rent the Runway is all about—getting that designer garment, that not everyone can afford. I think it’s great—you have an occasion like a wedding and you want a really cool dress that not everyone might have…it’s nice. It’s easy. It’s about the convenience, but also about the style. They select a lot of stylish things I think a lot of women can wear.”
