What: a new rental option for a retail giant

Why it is important: in a bid to support a difficult market (kidswear) and to offer sustainable options to customers, H&M is turning to rental fashion, a sustainable and economical trend that has been expanding over the past few years

Through a partnership with Amsterdam-based online shop and clothing subscription Circos, H&M’s Arket label will start offering items from its children’s collection for rent. The monthly Circos subscription is available to European customers, and rented clothes can be kept and used for as long as they fit and returned when it’s time to size up or update the wardrobe for a new season. Several families will share and enjoy the same piece of clothing, and once the product wears out, the materials are repurposed to make new products. Rental clothing is a way to respond to the sustainability demands from customers, especially in the kidswear market where you cannot hold on for so long to a pieces as children never stop growing.

ARKET starts renting out childrenswear to encourage reuse and re-wear

Related items:

• Sustainability series #1: the cost of being good
• Sustainability series #2: The Higg Index
• Sustainability: department stores’ destiny