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Designer Jean Paul Gaultier has entered the fashion rental market, letting customers borrow pieces from his label’s archives over the decades. The move comes amid a boom in circular fashion, driven by the conscious consumer trend led by sustainability-minded Gen Zs and millennials.
Jean Paul Gaultier is back and has changed things up to keep up with the times. Returning with a brand new e-commerce website, JPG has now launched a rental service, offering some of the most highly sought-after items from his archives to borrow.
JPG enters rental fashion
Some of these iconic pieces will come from JPG’s catwalk history, which featured more than 30,000 pieces, and select items will be available to customers on a weekly basis. Prices range between €150 and €700. There are about 30 styles for rent on the JPG website, from scarves to the unmistakable classic, the cage dress.
The brand says that these pieces will change seasonally “depending on the trends”.
“We will renew the offer, depending on the trends, for example if we see certain items in the vintage market trending or inflating,” explained JPG managing director Antoine Gagey, in an interview with WWD.
“The idea is to renew, to surprise the customer and to give them the opportunity to wear different pieces of Jean Paul Gaultier that they will not be able to buy simply because they don’t exist. These are samples.”
In a separate press statement, the company said that the new service aims to “fulfil the dream of renting iconic Jean Paul Gaultier items and other archive models coming straight from the Gaultier runways.”
Vintage secondhand collection
A vintage collection will also come online to give customers the chance to wear secondhand JPGs that hark back to the 1980s and 90s, sourced from the preloved pieces of private customers and retailers.
Around 50 pieces will be available, from jackets and outerwear to jewellery and accessories.
In a press release about the brand’s circular e-commerce revamp, the company wrote: “Entirely unisex, free from gender categorisations, mixing new items, ready-to-wear, vintage looks and tailor-made atelier models, everyone will be able to shop Gaultier on fashion.jeanpaulgaultier.com.”
The launch of JPG’s rental service comes as circular fashion experiences a boom. Last year, Diane von Furstenberg became one of the first luxury fashion players to tap the trend, launching her own subscription rental platform DVF Link, offering customers the chance to borrow her signature wrap dresses on rotation.
Online platforms that exclusively offer rental services, such as GlamCorner and Rent the Runway, have also become hugely popular with younger consumers.
However, research has cast doubt on the sustainability of rental against other circular options such as buying secondhand and recycling clothing. According to the study, renting clothing could actually have a higher climate impact than simply tossing clothes out, due to transport and packaging emissions.
All images courtesy of Jean Paul Gaultier.
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