it's kate

Rent the What?

As a recent college graduate and retail enthusiast, I am always on the lookout for the best deals.  While aimlessly dreaming of a Matthew Williamson dress I saw in a recent issue of Vogue, I set out in search of a way to have this dress, if only for a night.  Just moments later, as if Google was reading my mind, I stumbled across Rent the Runway, an online retailer that currently holds my number one spot for retailer, both on and off-line. 

Who is Rent the Runway?

• Rent the Runway is an online retailer that offers customers the opportunity to rent designer and luxury clothes and accessories at an affordable price.

Why Rent the Runway is my number one retailer:

• Rent the Runway allows retail enthusiasts the opportunity to wear high fashion clothing and accessories at an affordable price.  
• For many special occasions, women purchase a one-time use dress.  Rather than investing in a dress to wear only once, Rent the Runway offers another option, renting apparel.
• Not only does Rent the Runway offer one dress to rent, they offer a second dress as a backup for just $25.
• Recognizing that women struggle with the correct size to choose, Rent the Runway acknowledges that and allows you to pick two sizes of each dress.

 Why Rent the Runway will succeed:

• Rent the Runway is here to stay because of its innovative business model, as well meeting consumer need and desire.  Women have wanted an option to rent luxury dresses and accessories; finally, Rent the Runway has made it possible. 

Had I not stumbled upon Rent the Runway, I would probably still be dreaming of this dress I saw in Vogue.  Instead, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Matthew Williamson dress from Rent the Runway to help me ring in the New Year!

Instagr.am Will Take You to New York Fashion Week

For the fashion community, New York City Fashion Week is one of the most exclusive events of the year.  Fortunately, for us fashion lovers, whose invite mysteriously got lost in the mail, many brands are taking to the iPhone photo app, instagr.am, to give fans and followers a front row seat.  With the ability to tag uploaded images, over 20,000 photos have already been tagged with “NYFW”, and the event still has four days to go.

Refinery 29, an online site that aspires to be the go-to destination for discovering the latest and best in style, shopping and emerging trends from the runway to the streets, has been utilizing instagr.am to help transport their followers behind the scenes of this year’s New York City Fashion Week.  It seems just right that a trendy site, such as Refinery 29, has hopped on this trend, allowing users the ability to shuffle through a plethora of Fashion Week shots in real-time. 

Instagr.am as a Trend

According to instagr.am, as of December 2011 they have over 14 million users, so it’s only natural that top brands are starting to divulge in the extremely popular app.  As a trend, utilizing instagr.am within brand marketing is an easy way to reach a number of audiences.  Instagr.am also allows for fresh interactive content that can be aligned with brand messaging.  Essentially, instagr.am is an out-of-the-box way for brands to connect with consumers in a fun and hip way.

Instagr.am & Refinery 29: Pros

With Refinery 29’s mission to discover the latest and best in style, both on and off the runway, and deliver the trends to their fans and followers, it is easy to see that instagr.am is a perfect outlet for them to utilize.  By uploading behind-the-scenes and on-site shots of New York Fashion Week, fans are able to feel as if they are transported right to the runway, and in real-time.  Not only does instagr.am transport users, but it helps them to feel as if they are there, right alongside Refinery 29, learning of trends straight from the runway, which, in turn, enhances their mission to showcase the latest and greatest trends to their followers. 

Not only does the app allow for users to see trends in real-time, but it helps fans and followers connect with the brand, allowing users to see behind-the-scenes and other shots that they might not otherwise be able to see, thus making the brand more personable.  Another positive about instagr.am is that it is still a fairly under-the-radar trend that not all brands are utilizing and integrating, in turn giving Refinery 29 an edge over the competition. 

Instagr.am & Refinery: Cons

There are a few downsides to this hip, real-time app; one being that it is solely for Apple users that have devices running iOS 3.1.2 or above.  Therefore, it makes it harder for users without these devices to be able to follow the behind-the-scene shots, unless the photos are integrated within other social outlets.  Which brings up another downside: currently, Refinery 29 doesn’t seem to be integrating their instagr.am photos to their other social media or website.  Unless currently following the brand on instagr.am, the only way to see the real-time photos is to hunt for the web.stagram, which allows for non-instagr.am users to see the photos.  My guess is however, that not many people know that a web stream of instagr.am images exists.  To be fair, even as an instagr.am user, I didn’t even know such stream existed until I went out of my way to find it. 

It is with every digital trend that there will be positive and negatives, but overall I am eager to see instgra.am grow.  I believe that many more brands, especially in the fashion world, will start to discover and divulge in the instagr.am fun, and I am enthusiastically waiting to see what brands might do with the fun and hip real-time photo app.