Rent the Runway
Fashion rental requires expensive logistics (cleaning, shipping, repairs) that consume margins. IPO'd at $1.7B, stock fell 97%.
2009 → 2024
$540M
E-commerce/Fashion
USA
IdeaProof AI Failure Score
Full Analysis
Rent the Runway pioneered fashion rental subscriptions — rent designer clothes instead of buying. IPO'd at $1.7B in 2021. But the logistics of cleaning, shipping, repairing, and managing inventory of thousands of designer garments proved enormously expensive. Post-pandemic, fewer women needed work wardrobes. The stock fell 97% from its IPO peak. The company narrowly avoided bankruptcy through debt restructuring in 2023.
Could This Failure Have Been Prevented?
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