Luxury fashion rental doesn't always work, as Armarium closure shows

Luxury fashion rental platform Armarium is to cease operations this week. The New York-based company, founded in 2016 by Trisha Gregory and Alexandra Lind Rose, will permanently shutter its doors on March 7th.

Armarium was a unique concept amongst its competitors in a crowded rental market. It strategically partnered with luxury boutiques including Browns Fashion in London and Le Bon Marché in Paris to align itself with established luxury brick and mortar retail and appeal to its high-spending customer. It further hosted events in affluent locations, like summer pop-ups in The Hamptons, Art Basil Miami or in Los Angeles during awards season,

In keeping with its sustainability endeavours, the company partnered with online ethical fashion site Maison de Mode to design its temporary location spaces. It questionably employed a large roster of east and west coast stylists, including celebrity heavyweights George Kotsiopoulos and Cristina Ehrlich, which according to their website, could be directly requested for a fee.

Despite its strong credentials and operating in a rental market expected to be worth 1.9 billion dollars in the next three years, the 5 million dollars its raised from stakeholders including Tommy Hilfiger and global venture capital group C Ventures Fund wasn’t enough to sustain the business.

Describing itself as an omni-channel luxury retail platform, Armarium set out to rent current season high fashion clothing & accessories from top luxury houses including Bottega Veneta and Misson,i along with access to professional styling and a luxury service.

What went wrong?

While a lower price point to purchasing luxury made the offer attractive, its business model needed tweaking. Customers looking to wear affordable luxury items, mostly for events, are less in need of experiential stylists of the highest calibre. Its website, and primary sales channel, aimed to incorporate storytelling inspired by luxury pureplayers like Net-a-Porter, but the photography and content didn’t match that of a high level brand. Futhermore, to successfully operate as an omni-channel business, particularly styling itself as a rental platform with tentacles in global retail and presence at exclusive events, requires significant investment, strategy and marketing.

According to the Business of Fashion, Armarium struggled with the high costs of running a rental business, which saw complicated logistics like international shipping, drycleaning, and high courier costs for the rental’s return. While many of its customers were likely to rent again, there was less upselling of looks when the majority of rental items are gowns, keeping the average value per transaction low.

Image via Armarium