Contemporary apparel brand Vince has officially made its entire assortment of premium clothing rentable.
On Thursday, the Los Angeles-based ready-to-wear brand extended its Vince Unfold rental subscription program to include men’s apparel, after launching a women’s platform in 2018.
New members pay $160 per month for complete access to the brand’s range of slacks, shirts, sweaters, outerwear and more. Under the plan, they can choose four garments to borrow at a time, to be cycled out at an unlimited rate or purchased at a discount.
The men’s and women’s programs will both carry the same pricing structure, along with benefits like free two-way shipping and complimentary laundering, Vince said. The program is powered by back-end rental technology and logistics platform CaaStle, which also manages dedicated subscription programs for brands including Ralph Lauren, Banana Republic and Express.
Earlier this summer, Vince augmented its women’s rental options with CaaStle’s new “Borrow” button, allowing consumers to rent just one garment at a time for a flat fee, and use the same online checkout they’d use to purchase. Like the subscription program, renters can choose to buy their borrowed gear at any time at a reduced price—but sans a monthly subscription fee.
“We’re thrilled to announce the addition of men’s apparel to Vince Unfold, as this, coupled with Borrow, will create the most flexible and inclusive rental experience for our customer,” Vince CEO Jack Schwefel said in a statement. “As we return to a modicum of normalcy, we anticipate the demand for rental to continue to grow and the introduction of men’s to the Unfold program will help us appeal to the widest audience possible.”
Schwefel teased the launch of the men’s Unfold program in an earnings call last week. “I think the historic results were good enough that we wanted to jump in with men’s and see what that meant,” he said of the existing Unfold program, which previously serviced only women’s apparel. “I think we’ll see if men will perform and rent the same way women do.”
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It remains to be seen how the feature performs. “The Borrow piece is so new and honestly, the results are so small at this point,” Schwefel said, noting that Vince might reveal details at a later date.
CaaStle CEO and founder Christine Hunsicker praised the brand’s move to offer rentable options for all shoppers. “Expanding the Vince Unfold subscription rental program to include both the women’s and men’s collection creates a compelling new way for current and new consumers to experience the brand,” she said. “Vince was an early adopter of women’s subscription rental, as well as one of our first partners to launch one-time rental through Borrow, and we are excited about expanding our relationship with such an innovative partner into the men’s category.”
Last week, CaaStle also announced a first-of-its-kind project called Modern Mom Style Box, created in collaboration with content creator Tara Clark. The mom blogger and author curated her own picks for mothers from brands like Anne Klein, BB Dakota, Calvin Klein, Cupcakes and Cashmere, Faherty Brand, French Connection and Leota. Renters pay $60 per month to rent three garments at a time, and can change them out on an unlimited basis.