On the afternoon of Jan. 16, Nguyen Nhung, 30, from Hanoi’s Tay Ho District and three of her colleagues visited a clothes store on Trang Quang Dieu Avenue, Dong Da District, searching for outfits to hire for his or her year-end celebration. The entire group wanted to discover a white or pink gown to match the celebration’s gown code.
Corporations in Vietnam usually maintain year-end events earlier than Tet (Lunar New 12 months). Tet, Vietnam’s largest and most necessary pageant, will final from Feb. 8 to 14, 2024. The normal pageant will peak on Feb. 10.
Nhung mentioned that she has excessive requirements for garments and is hesitant to put on an outfit that has been photographed earlier than, so as an alternative she likes to hire totally different attire for various occasions.
The value per rental for these designers’ merchandise vary from VND200,000-400,000 per product, whereas the shopping for value can go as much as a number of hundreds of thousands of dong.
“Shopping for new could be very wasteful, however renting means you’ve got stunning garments yearly that do not exit of fashion,” she mentioned. Nhung additionally mentioned that every 12 months she chooses a distinct rental retailer to diversify her choices.
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Nguyen Nhung at a celebration gown rental retailer on Tran Quang Dieu Avenue, Hanoi’s Dong Da District, Jan. 16, 2024. Picture by VnExpress/ Quynh Nguyen |
Anh Thu, 28 years outdated from Hanoi’s Cau Giay District, can be renting a gown for a year-end celebration.
She mentioned night robes are sometimes designed to be trendy, subtle, and considerably seductive, so they’re solely appropriate for night events. To not point out that some attire price as much as tens of hundreds of thousands of dong, out of attain for somebody with an workplace wage like her.
“I am unable to spend a number of million dong to purchase a gown only for one night, I can’t put on it usually if I maintain it, can’t acquire a lot if I resell it, particularly when the economic system isn’t doing so effectively with our lowered salaries and lack of Tet bonuses,” Thu mentioned.
Two weeks earlier than the corporate celebration, the 28-year-old woman went to well-known shops hoping to hire an acceptable gown.
The variety of folks renting costumes for year-end events like Nhung and Thu tends to extend a couple of month earlier than Tet.
A latest VnExpress survey confirmed that Vietnam is residence to dozens of on-line teams and companies for renting and promoting outfits. The most important group has 70,000 members, with about 40 new posts day by day – most are about requests to hire attire for year-end events. Beneath the put up, many rental outlets promote their companies with contact info.
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Prospects browse designer outfits at a rental store on Tran Quang Dieu Avenue, Hanoi’s Dong Da District, Jan. 16. Picture by VnExpress/Quynh Nguyen |
Thu Thao, supervisor of a designer clothes rental retailer on Tran Quang Dieu Avenue, Dong Da District, mentioned demand for renting celebration attire and ao dai tends to extend after the seventh lunar month of the Lunar 12 months as a result of wedding ceremony season. The twelfth lunar month data the very best improve in demand as a result of firms holding year-end events, she mentioned.
“Earlier than the pandemic, the demand for renting garments for year-end events elevated 3 times in comparison with different months. However as a result of damaging impacts on the economic system, this 12 months many firms don’t maintain year-end events, so the variety of leases is anticipated to solely double,” mentioned Thu Thao.
On common, Thao’s retailer serves about 40 prospects day by day, and much more on weekends. With 300 totally different fashions of celebration attire and ao dai, there was a time when prospects rented out almost three fourth of the merchandise, primarily black, white, or beige garments. Costs vary from VND200,000-600,000 per go to relying on the mannequin.
Along with Thao’s retailer, many clothes rental shops in Hanoi are additionally beginning to bustle on the finish of the 12 months. Prospects are principally workplace staff. Peak instances to welcome guests are midday, night, and weekends.
“We regularly advise prospects to e book upfront to have a bigger variety of choices,” mentioned an worker of a clothes rental retailer in Cau Giay District.
Not solely in Vietnam, however clothes rental companies are additionally rising strongly globally, particularly after Covid-19 and the financial recession. In a research in early 2023, world consulting agency Bain & Firm predicted that by 2030, second-hand trend will account for about 20% of the style trade’s gross sales, of which companies for clothes leases account for about 10%.
Despite the fact that specialists predict a smaller buyer base for renting than shopping for second-hand gadgets, the potential continues to be there with 19% of consumers planning to make use of this service over the following 5 years, based on Globaldata.
Bain & Firm’s report additionally predicts “sustainable luxurious” will likely be a rising pattern within the subsequent decade, and the style rental trade is laying the inspiration. Some luxurious trend manufacturers akin to Maison Margiela, Marni, Pyer Moss, and Altuzarra additionally began to take part within the pattern by launching “borrowing rights” and “use rights” companies for VIP prospects.
Affiliate Professor Dr. Do Minh Cuong, former lecturer on the College of Economics and the Vietnam Nationwide College, mentioned that renting outfits on particular events as an alternative of shopping for them is more and more in style as a result of individuals are beginning to care extra concerning the “sharing economic system” and sensible consumption. The attribute of this economic system is to encourage renting, reusing outdated issues, and avoiding shopping for new issues to save cash.
Based on the knowledgeable, within the present troublesome financial state of affairs, spending hundreds of thousands on garments that may solely be worn a number of instances is an inappropriate manner of spending. Not solely is renting garments cheaper, however you do not have to fret about missing space for storing or losing cash on laundry.
Cuong affirmed that the pattern of renting garments will more and more develop due to its comfort, usefulness, and suitability to the financial wants of many customers. Nevertheless, for individuals who pursue sophistication, like exclusivity, or are afraid of being gossiped about, renting could make it troublesome to satisfy their necessities.
“That is the pattern of the longer term, utilized by many celebrities and politicians around the globe. There isn’t a cause to be shy or embarrassed,” Cuong mentioned.
Along with year-end celebration garments, some prospects additionally hire attire and ao dai for all the Lunar New 12 months vacation. The rental value isn’t any dearer than ordinary.
Bao Ninh, from the northern province of Hai Duong, plans to hire two ao dai, priced at VND150,000 every, to put on for this 12 months’s Tet. The 27-year-old woman mentioned {that a} designer ao dai prices a median of VND1-2 million, whereas the identical product if rented prices just one tenth of that.
“Garments aren’t gold or silver to hoard, so it’s higher to save lots of for one thing else,” the workplace employee mentioned.