RentMaternityWear.com rents – via the internet — new, current-season and classic designer maternity dresses bought directly from the best manufacturers and designers in the market. RMW saves pregnant women a lot of money, time – and the hassle — of shopping around for a special occasion maternity dress, which usually becomes a one-time wear. Dresses are delivered to your doorstep via FedEx, 1-week rentals start at just $35, and include a 2nd Size Dress for free to ensure fit, dry cleaning, and a
pre-paid, pre-labeled mailer that you simply pop in the mail when done.
Here is our interview with RentMaternityWear.com’s founder, Marcelle Costello, my questions are in italic:
I think the concept of RentMaternityWear.com is fabulous. I wish I had known about it when I was pregnant last summer. It would have been so nice to have something fresh to wear!
Thank you!
You started your maternity wear rental business as a result of a need you had while you were pregnant with your twins, could you tell me a little more about your experience so our readers get a feel for where your idea came from and how you developed your idea.
I am a mom of twins and my family thinks of me as someone who “can find anything on the internet,” which is probably true. One day when I was dreading the thought of taking my then 3 year old twins shopping for shoes, I instead found and bought a Brannock device online – a Brannok device is that metal thing shoe salespeople use to measure feet. A few days later it came in the mail and I
ordered my twins’ shoes online from a new start-up company called Zappos. I had solved the problem of shoe shopping for twin toddlers without leaving the house. From the very beginning, I was definitely what they call in Silicon Valley an “early adapter” of online shopping.
When I was pregnant with my twins, I found it very hard to spend a lot of money on a dress I knew I’d wear once, as I had to have a gown made for the Opening of the San Francisco Opera when I was 7 months pregnant. Yes, it was gorgeous, and sadly, I got to wear it for about 6 hours, including the performance and the dinner after.
However, the person who really inspired RentMaternityWear.com’s founding is my sister. When she was 8 months pregnant, she asked me to help her find something to wear that “didn’t break the bank” and I thought “easy! This will take 20 minutes tops.” What I found surprised both of us – every garment I found was either (1) expensive (i.e., $100 or more) or (2) if not expensive, then not very well made. It occurred to me from my experience having a dress made while I was pregnant that, during pregnancy — perhaps
more so than ever, a woman NEEDS a garment that is especially well made because aspects of its composition — the quality and hand of the fabric, the cut, the draping, and the quality of the sewing and finishes — are even MORE important because the garment itself is a much more pronounced component of the overall look. After my discovery — or really lack-of-discovery — my sister and I looked at each other and said “There has GOT to be a better way” to dress pregnant women for special occasions and as the saying goes “Necessity is the Mother of Invention” and RentMaternityWear.com was born.
How old is RentMaternityWear.com?
Almost 9 months; RMW launched in June, 2010.
I think the answer will be obvious, but you must have a lot of fun shopping for dresses for RentMaternityWear.com?
Yes! Buying and seeking out new designers/resources is definitely one of the highlights of this job.
How do you determine what to stock? After all, every woman has her own taste and style, I would think that fact would make your job even tougher.
At RentMaternityWear.com we use customer feedback and ideas a LOT. We also work with the best manufacturers and designers in the market, so we have found nice success so far in providing what our customers want.
Your FAQ page and How it Works Page are pretty thorough in explaining how to rent a dress, but what kind of process did you have to go through to figure out what system would work for this business model? Did you get input from another rental company?
New York Times reporter – and mom – Jodi Kantor called RentMaternityWear.com “Netflix for maternity dresses” which I love because it’s spot-on. I started developing the concept and website a little over 2 years ago, when frankly, there were just a couple of internet rental companies, Netflix being one of the pioneers of course. I didn’t seek input from other rental companies because, other than Avelle and Netflix, there weren’t any out there. I just thought if RentMaternityWear.com com could provide a great product in a timely manner there were a LOT of women like me and my sister who would take advantage of such a service. What’ really interesting now, from a general business perspective, is the fact that the online rental category is HOT – there are internet rental companies that provide customers with products ranging from college text books to Christmas trees! At the same time, the consumer has begun to change too – in large part because of the economy; she now realizes that she doesn’t have to own everything.
I read on a tweet you sent out saying, “Gorgeous Celeb-Mom Samantha Harris graces Pregnancy Mag’s Dec cover in 1 of 19 dresses RentMaternityWear.com sent to the shoot” 10:29 AM Dec 16th, 2010 via web (https://twitter.com/Rent_Maternity_/status/15473711679283201) Have you worked with many celebrities so far?
Actually, RMW hasn’t been around very long, so Ms. Harris was the first cover for RMW, and one of our long gowns, the Beaded Yoke Long Dress by Olian Maternity, was shipped to the Oscars.
What has their feedback been?
I wasn’t able to attend the shoot in Los Angeles with Ms. Harris, but the stylist told me she loved everything, which is really nice to hear.
I noticed that your website lists your favorites, but what are the most popular dresses rented out?
Our Newest Arrivals always get grabbed up right away. I am always amazed at what planners our customers are! We are receiving orders for May and June now, a lot of our customers have weddings to go to as well as their own baby showers to plan for. Many of our customers rent more than once during their pregnancy. Also classics like the Jeweled Neckline Sheath dress by Maternal America, the Twist Front Knit dress (also Maternal America), the Ruffle Edge Sleeve dress by Olian Maternity, and Christian Siriano’s Chic Chiffon dress are very popular. I also expect maxi dresses will be especially popular this Spring/Summer 2011 because they are so versatile. During a 1-week rental you can wear a brightly colored maxi dress with heels to a Summer party, and then a few
days enjoy it with flip flops for a casual lunch date with friends.
I think I have exhausted my question reservoir, feel free to add any important elements I may have missed.
Thank you! These were great questions.
About RentMaternityWear.com’s Founder
Marcelle Costello, Founder of RentMaternityyWear.com, holds two degrees from UC Berkeley, has a background in fashion publishing and marketing, is married, a mom of twins, and the daughter of fabulous mom Viki Welling and successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur Brent Welling, co-founder of Linear Technology Corp., (which today has a market cap of $7.8 Billion). Marcelle attributes her interest in entrepreneurialism and technology to her father having asking her to type Linear’s first business plan when she was a senior
in high school.
1.888.769.7692 Toll Free
Chic Maternity Dressing. Without the Investment. TM
