Clothing your children might not be as expensive as it previously was now John Lewis is offering shoppers the chance to rent clothes.
The high street retailer has launched a scheme alongside clothes sharing company The Little Loop where parents can rent seven items at a time, which can later be swapped for a new design or bigger size. It works as a subscription service from just £18 a month and was thought up as a means to help budgeting families keep kids looking smart during the cost of living crisis, while still being able to put food on the table.
The cheapest £18 subscription buys 100 credits. Examples of what could be bought, picked out by The Express, include a gingham dress costing £19.45 would be available for 13 credits, and dinosaur-print joggers which retail for £9.50 could be rented for seven credits.
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Other children’s clothes from the 51 items available to rent include a yellow hoodie, available to rent for 11 credits, a navy twill waistcoat for 14 credits, and a green rain mac for 20 credits.
Customers will know if the clothes they rent have been rented before as they will be put in three categories: brand spanking new, gently worn, or well-loved, depending on how many times they have previously been hired. The rental fee will take its condition into account.
Germ conscious parents need not worry - the garments will be cleaned before being put out to rent again. As well as being a novel cost saving measure, it was also thought up to save clothes unnecessarily going to landfill when they can serve other families perfectly well.
Glynis Williams, in charge of baby and children’s clothing at John Lewis, said: "We’re thrilled to be launching a collection of baby and childrenswear clothing with Thelittleloop, giving customers a more sustainable option to rent high-quality John Lewis clothing through a trusted partnership."
According to environmental charity Hubbub, an estimated 183 million outgrown baby clothes currently sit forgotten in British wardrobes.
John Lewis isn’t the only major British retailer to jump on the new rental trend. Last year, Marks and Spencer started to enable shoppers to rent outfits for four to 30 days from just £13 through its partnership with Hirestreet.
According to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), Britons throw away £140million worth of wearable clothes every year. And demand for raw materials is expected to triple by 2050, with the textile industry understood to be the second-largest global polluter, responsible for 92 million tonnes of waste annually.
John Lewis has a series of monthly and quarterly subscription plans available from today, May 26, ranging from £18 a month or £50 a quarter for 100 credits, £27 a month or £75 a quarter for 150 credits, and £36 a month or £100 a quarter for 200 credits.
You can check out the rental service here.
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