Have you always dreamed of wearing a designer dress but you did not have the chance
Or how many times have you sighed looking at the wonderful shoes of celebs, worn on the red carpets, but your wallet did not go that far
Finally, even in Italy the possibility of renting was born designer clothes, shoes and accessories for special occasions and at affordable prices Drees You Can is the first experiment in “dress sharing” born in 2014 from the initiative of Caterina Maestro and Elena Battaglia . Winning experiment, given that the two girls received the IT4Fashion Innovation Award 2018.
The physical store is located in Milan, in Porta Ticinese. But everything is obviously also available online.
The initial idea was to create a physical place and a website to share one’s wardrobe , expanding the classic “sharing” between friends to a much wider audience. Where individuals could make their own wardrobe available, and at the same time everyone could rent designer clothes from emerging or established designers. Obviously at low prices.
All this with a view to a circular and sustainable economy . Isn’t it true that every woman has at least one garment in her wardrobe (let’s face it: there are many more) never worn and still with the tag. In this way, it is shared, practically new garments are put back into circulation and you can change, wearing designer clothes without necessarily buying them. Eliminating the guilt!How and why the idea of DressYouCan was born DressYouCan was born at the end of 2014 after an unfortunate stay in Marrakech, which turned into a compulsive shopping marathon between friends who, due to a sort of accidental circumstances, found herself forced to share a single credit card.
Experience that made me reflect on what is a need that unites the vast majority of the female gender: that of owning more clothes than those she wears and continue to feel the irresistible desire to have more … world and world in every woman’s wardrobe there are more clothes than she wears, but far fewer than she would dream of wearing, hence the idea of a forerunner Airbnb (online portal that connects people looking for accommodation or a room for short periods, ed) of the wardrobes. In Italy the concept of “renting” is still not very widespread. Because More than not very widespread, I would say that the concept of renting, as indeed everything concerning the e-commerce field, has reached Italy lagging behind the rest of the world.
If in the United States the online rental of women’s fashion clothes and accessories has become a consolidated reality (see Renttherunway.com), in Italy the market is still at the beginning of its development and the presence of competitors is still very limited. It is therefore a huge business opportunity. Of course, the risk is only that of a ‘time lag’: generating strong demand before being ready to handle high volumes of orders or excessively anticipating the market by being ahead of the times and consumer’s attitude.
To avoid these hypotheses, DressYouCan has worked to increase user awareness of the advantages of fashion renting and retain an ever-growing base of customers through communication, direct involvement of the diversified supplier base, word of mouth and, above all, the presence of the physical store (85% of consumers want to see and touch the products before making a decision).
In addition, the integration with other providers of sharing services (tourism, transport) to complement the already active partnership with car2go in Milan, the expansion of the range of products offered (maternity clothing, extra-size clothing, clothing accessories , linen) and the ‘physical’ diffusion in the rest of Italy with the expansion of the flagship stores.
By involving users both as a user and as a supplier, DressYouCan works to “convert” every woman to the use and not the possession of fashion, into what we can define as a “circular economy”. We also place great faith in a vertical increase in collaborations with new brands, emerging designers and retailers. After all, the issue of sustainability can no longer be evaded.
From this point of view DressYouCan is a sort of trend collector that optimizes consumption making it sustainable (rental), transports the concept of sharing economy to the world of fashion thus contributing to the elimination of waste (sharing), analyzes and tries to prevent user requests so as to support the sustainable production of products, with particular attention to emerging designers, increasingly attentive to the ecological aspect of their work (sustainable and customized production). You claim that Dress You Can is a fashion revolution. What do you meanBecause at the center of the experience is no longer the brand, but the individual customer, who passes from target to focus of the rental core business. For this reason, unlike all the marketing competitors (customer and non-product in the center), our selection of the product catalog (not necessarily only the must-haves of the latest fashion shows or top designers) and mission (allowing each woman to choose the own style without any diktat) are not aimed at making the user a product of the fashion of the moment, but the fashion of the moment a product in the hands of the consumer according to his whims of the moment.
What we proudly claim, in fact, beyond the application of the rental concept to the world of fashion, is the creation of the first “truly infinite wardrobe”. And a new chapter for fashion: the Airbnb chapter of wardrobes, accessible from every point of view: economic, physical and ideological, where you can rent your clothes (and therefore optimize your capital), rent clothes catalog (take advantage of shared resources) and help make the approach to fashion more sustainable.
In fact, on DressYouCan the clothes are taken and rented, monetizing one’s wardrobe and contributing with one’s taste to the definition of seasonal trends according to one’s preferences and fit. What kind of woman rents clothesThe modern consumer tends to conceive true luxury more as a function of the experience to be lived than of the good to possess (thus resulting less influenced and dependent on a specific brand): he wants to be able to allow himself to change wardrobe no longer every year, but every day and he wants to do it quickly, intelligently and economically.
Dressyoucan is not aimed only at fashion victims who choose rental as an alternative means of accessing catwalk dresses that otherwise they would not be able to afford, but at modern women who have many opportunities to show off unique and always different clothes. DressYouCan’s target audience is exclusively female, of an age range mainly between 18 and 50, with good / excellent spending power, who prefers fit, comfort and variety to diktats and fashion trends. Almost half of our customers become our recurring consumer and 38% of DressYouCan members have already reported buying fewer clothes. A result so promising that we hope for a double success: helping the environment and eliminating the buyer’s remorse in one fell swoop.What are the most requested clothes After a first timid glimpse into the world of renting, it is easy to realize how from the ceremony to the business dinner, from the aperitif with friends to the romantic candlelit dinner, the opportunities to show off a different dress every night they are many: every woman should have the opportunity to feel a little like Cinderella not just for one night, but on every special occasion of her life. Because a beautiful dress is a magic wand capable of giving self-esteem, safety and well-being to the wearer.
To promote the diffusion and daily / recurring use of rental as an alternative form of use to the compulsive shopping of fast fashion garments, DressYouCan has since 2016 set up more than a subscription a sort of coupon subscription in line with our local needs: by purchasing a DressCard, at a fixed cost of € 299, you have the opportunity to take advantage of 5 rentals in a year. Celebs also use rental clothes
You can tell us a few anecdotesRegarding the celeb theme, it is necessary to make a premise: even in this case, while immersed in the world of fashion, DressYouCan represents a sort of exception in fashion as it does not aim at the professional involvement of influencers, ambassadors, or VIPs, local or not. And certainly not for self-harm. Needless to say, how much fun he would play if the superstar of the moment helped us spread our word. However, since it is the promotion of a concept rather than a brand, the sponsorship of our format could only go through a real story. This is why paradoxically, the photos, advice and comments of each of our customers (real and non-standardized women), who have chosen that model of dress, have worn it and “have proof” of their own, are truly effective. success.
Obviously it is quite another matter if celebs come to us spontaneously, as pure and simple customers. The attention to the woman and not to her role led in fact to particularly bizarre situations. How to find out that one of our dresses was on the red carpet in Venice. Or find yourself thinking “mamma mia, what a beautiful girl” and realizing in retrospect that you have actually just served the Chiabotto.
It may seem trivial, but for us, it really matters that each woman can feel as beautiful as a diva. Regardless of her social influence.
