Rental industry expands to various consumer goods

A photo shows how customers can rent special occasion wear at Salon de Charlotte, which has locations at the Lotte Department Store in downtown Seoul and more recently in Jamsil, as people gradually start to rent rather than purchase clothes. / Courtesy of Lotte Department

By Kim Ji-soo

Brigitte Macron, the new French first lady, caught the public's attention at the May 14 inauguration of her husband, French President Emmanuel Macron, with her powder-blue Louis Vuitton suit, loaned to her by the fashion house. No one would have ever guessed she had only rented, not bought, the stunning outfit.

Renting goods — from water purifiers to other consumer goods such as clothes — is increasing in Korea, where consumers are becoming savvier at looking great and living well on a tight budget.

Last July, clothing rental shop Salon de Charlotte opened on the ground floor of Lotte Department Store in downtown Seoul. The store offers dresses for special occasions and luxury-brand handbags such as from Chanel and Miu Miu.

"We are seeing more demand since March this year. It's mostly women, mothers in their 20s and 30s seeking to rent (an outfit) for their baby's first birthday party, as they do not necessarily wear the traditional Korean attire so much anymore," said Choi Yeun-hee, a Salon de Charlotte employee at the Lotte Department store in downtown Seoul. She said there is also demand from women looking for clothes for wedding receptions and from single women in their 20s needing a fashionable look for special events.

The shop's dresses cost between 100,000 won and 300,000 won for two-night and three-day rentals. In addition to renting dresses, the store often sells dresses designed and produced by Korean designers.

Choi said Salon de Charlotte is also getting much press attention these days, as renting goods becomes a trend in Korea.

In 2016, SK Planet launched Project Anne, focusing on renting daily clothes from designer brands. Project Anne, an online-to-offline fashion platform started with 12,000 pieces from 100 brands but now has around 30,000 products from 150 brands. The service, which allows a customer to borrow a minimum of four pieces a month for 80,000 won, has also seen an increase in customers. In December 2016, it had 22,000 customers, and this figure gradually picked up to 130,000 as of May 2017.

"The trend of renting clothes has carved out niche markets in the United States, Europe and Japan," an SK Planet official said.

He cited some early services in the industry, such as Rent the Runway, which opened in 2009 first as a party-wear rental service and later added casual clothing from medium-priced to expensive brands and luxury brands: Le Tote, which opened in 2012; and Japan's Air Closet, which was founded in 2014 and recorded 70,000 registered members within the first year. The rental prices of these services range from $59 to $139.

Multitudes of such services, such as Wing Closet and The Clozet, now abound online in Korea, offering clothing rental for work and special occasions.

But the trend is not restricted to clothes. For instance, artwork rentals have also been on the rise. Word of mouth has made OPEN GALLERY, founded in late 2013, successful.

"We are seeing demand increase by the year. In particular, we are seeing significant demand from women in their 30s and 40s, who decorate their homes with original artwork, and continued demand from such spaces as offices, cafes and hospitals," said a PR official at OPEN GALLERY, a service that rents out original art.

"I think it has to do with the spreading of culture of enjoying over owning in the nation," the official said. Their art can be borrowed at 1 to 3 percent of the original price, and customers can receive new art every three months.

Online luxury goods sales website Reebonz Korea, which was founded six years ago in Seoul, started a luxury goods rental service in December 2016.

"There was a lot of demand from our customers to start a rental business," an employee told The Korea Times over the phone. They started the rental business ON: RE, where customers can register as a member and pay 79,000 won per month to rent a luxury brand bag or watch.

A 46-year-old housewife in Seoul surnamed Kim said she rents, in a package deal, water and air purifiers, because these companies manage them for her and also she does not want to crowd her home with stuff.

Citing KT Economics and Business Management Research Institute, Yonhap reported that the nation's rental market stood at 25.9 trillion won last year, representing a 32.8 percent rise over 2011.

"I used to rent in the United States, like a tuxedo for the prom or a suit to wear to people's weddings, because those items were expensive to purchase," said a 27-year-old male living in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. But here in Seoul, there are not many special occasions that require one to rent a suit, and where events that usually require dressing up are much more toned-down affairs.

"While renting electronics goods was about actually getting to use these big-priced items at the cost of monthly rental fees, which may in fact be like installment payments, except the firms manage these products for the consumers; now, consumers are willing to rent to utilize the diverse range of products they offer," said Jeon Mi-young, research professor at the Department of Consumer Science at Seoul National University.She is also a co-author of "Trend Korea 2017" along with professor Kim Ran-do.

"It's items like clothes that many consumers now prefer to rent rather than to own, and it's an especially dominant and preferred type of ownership among those in their 20s, who want to experience the diverse range of the latest products," Jeon said.

"And companies are catching up fast onto this aspect and moving aggressively and swiftly to offer such services."

A screen capture of Project Anne, a mobile service that rents out Korean brand wear to registered customers. / Courtesy of SK Planet