More women are renting clothes this year, just as inflation and tariffs are poised to push clothing prices higher
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
It’s almost the holidays, and with it comes office parties, family gatherings and the dreaded question of what to wear to those things. NPR has been explaining the forces driving up prices in our series Cost of Living: The Price We Pay. And today, we look at clothing. Rising inflation and tariffs are complicating the hunt for this year’s hottest ugly sweater. But as NPR’s Kristian Monroe explains, there’s an alternative to buying it.
KRISTIAN MONROE, BYLINE: Two years ago, Lydia Patel made a big decision. The pharmacist, content creator and mom of three was sick of seeing all the clothes she used to wear to kids’ birthday parties and events languishing inside her closet.
LYDIA PATEL: I go to work in scrubs. I don’t dress up for work anymore. So I really don’t need a whole lot of new clothes.
MONROE: So she decided to stop buying them.
PATEL: I don’t really want to hang on to pieces forever. By the time I have something else to go to, the trends will have changed. My taste might have changed.
MONROE: But that didn’t mean no new clothes. She decided, why not rent instead? Patel joins thousands of women borrowing high-end, premium clothes like dresses, jeans and even winter coats each month for a fraction of the original price. She says renting has opened up a whole new world, a world of luxury fabrics.
PATEL: I now get to wear silk items that I otherwise would never bother – cleaning and, like – I don’t even know what you do with – I don’t know what you do with silk, and I don’t want to.
MONROE: The popularity of rental fashion has been fueled by fears that inflation and tariffs could be back in vogue. While clothing prices are up 9% since the start of COVID, that pales in comparison to the rise of overall inflation over that same period. But what the future holds for the cost of clothing, well, that remains unclear. Nearly all clothing in the United States is made overseas in countries like China and Vietnam, which face up to 20% in additional taxes imposed by the Trump administration this year. As these tariffs settle in, Sky Canaves, principal analyst at EMARKETER, says they’ll make their way through the supply chain and into shopping bags.
SKY CANAVES: As brands and retailers have to pay more to import clothing, they will have to pass on those costs – at least some of those costs – to consumers.
MONROE: That could affect rental fashion, which isn’t immune to the impact of tariffs. One of the biggest rental platforms is Nuuly, owned by the same company that owns Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Free People. And it’s working to tackle the challenge of tariffs.
DAVE HAYNE: We’re definitely trying to manage through it and doing a lot to manage through.
MONROE: That’s Nuuly president Dave Hayne. He says buying wholesale, working alongside his popular sister brands, is helping. And if customers are happy with their clothes, Nuuly’s happy to sell it to them at a discount. The goal – to save the holidays from the tariff grinch. But not so fast, Cindy Lou Who. The holidays are just one of the busiest times of year for renting, and that added demand could mean the odds of getting your hands on that light-up Rudolph sweater might be harder than you thought. Companies like Rent the Runway and Nuuly are trying to avoid running out of items, but Hayne admits it’s hard to get those numbers right.
HAYNE: One of the most important things for this business to be successful is trying to kind of balance inventory levels with subscriber levels.
MONROE: Hayne says if you are hoping to dress to impress at your office party, rent as soon as you can. So renting is what Lydia Patel is planning to do this busy holiday season.
PATEL: I don’t miss buying stuff. I – seeing what I have in my closet, I do not want to add anything else to it.
MONROE: While she’s not sure if she’ll be competing with other renters to grab that must-have, fun ugly sweater or wearing something a bit more traditional, odds are, she’ll be returning it in January.
Kristian Monroe, NPR News.
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