Costume rental services for "Instagrammable" photos are in high demand.

Việt Nam•22/03/2024

With the travel season approaching, clothing and accessory rental shops are bustling with customers. Driven by the desire of customers to find dazzling and beautiful outfits for social media photos without the high cost of buying them, rental services for travel and leisure are becoming a popular trend, meeting the needs of a wide range of customers.

Ms. Pham Khanh Linh, owner of Doo Doo studio on Nguyen Tri Phuong Street, Vinh Yen City, started a photo shoot costume rental service about a year ago. This is one of the places that attracts young people because of its diverse and fashionable party, birthday, and travel outfits.

Born in 1999, after many years in the clothing business, Khanh Linh realized that young people currently have a high demand for stylish outfits for photoshoots, while often having limited budgets. Therefore, her clothing and accessory rental service addresses this need while also providing an opportunity to earn extra income.

The store offers a wide variety of designs and styles to cater to different customer segments.

At her shop, Ms. Khanh Linh has invested in nearly 200 sets of clothing, including dresses, ao dai (traditional Vietnamese dress), blouses, and maxi dresses, catering to diverse customer needs such as birthdays, Tet (Vietnamese New Year), mountain trips, and beach vacations. The prices of the outfits range from 500,000 VND to several million VND depending on the type and brand, and new designs are regularly updated, with older items being sold off. In addition to the clothing, she also spends money on various accessories such as hats, bags, glasses, shoes, earrings, and necklaces for customers to use in photos.

Accessories that go with the outfits are available in the store.

Ms. Khanh Linh shared: “As the tourist season approaches, the demand for costume rentals increases significantly, especially on weekends. The number of customers coming to my shop increases two to three times compared to weekdays.”

At the store, the rental price for dresses and gowns ranges from 100,000 to 300,000 VND per piece for two days; including accessories such as necklaces, earrings, and hairbands, which are provided free of charge. Designer dresses and branded gowns for weddings and formal events are more expensive, ranging from 500,000 to 700,000 VND per day.

In addition, to stimulate consumer demand, my store also has a promotion offering a 10% discount to customers who send photo feedback or a flat rental price for groups of 3 or more people. With relatively reasonable prices, diverse designs, and accompanying accessories, the store attracts many customers aged 18-30 and has a stable monthly revenue.”

Sharing a similar business idea with Ms. Khanh Linh, Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Thuy Linh, owner of the clothing rental shop Rent By Bif on Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, Vinh Yen City, believes that while renting fashion items was quite popular in Hanoi , it wasn't common in Vinh Phuc. However, due to its convenience and cost-saving benefits, renting clothing for tourism or "Instagrammable" photos has now become a common trend.

Ms. Thuy Linh said: “The rental price at my shop ranges from 100,000 to 280,000 VND/3 days for designer dresses and tops. The rental procedure is very simple; customers can come directly to try on clothes or search on social media, choose a design, agree on the rental, pay a deposit, and send the recipient's information. The shop will then deliver the clothes to their location.”

For customers within the province, a citizen's ID card is sufficient, while customers from outside the province must pay a 50% deposit, which will be refunded upon return of the dress. With this convenience, not only customers in Vinh Yen city but also many people from other localities now rent clothes through the store's online channel.”

Through social media, customers can easily choose designs to rent.

Nguyen Phuong Thao, a customer renting costumes at the shop, from Tich Son ward, Vinh Yen city, shared: "Every time I travel, I mainly rent clothes to avoid wasting money because I only wear them once or twice after buying them and then put them in the closet. Moreover, rental shops nowadays have so many dress styles, making it easier for me to choose."

Preparing for my family trip this coming April, I rented three dresses for only 450,000 VND for three days. The outfits allowed me to take beautiful photos in various styles and looks, whereas with that amount of money I could only buy one dress.”

Not only in Vinh Yen city, but also at tourist destinations, costume rental services are developing rapidly. According to Ms. Thu Hang, owner of Mun Vintage shop in Tam Dao town: “At the shop, the majority are summer travel outfits such as monochrome maxi dresses and dresses with tropical floral and leaf patterns. Besides that, bohemian (boho) dresses and tops with a free-spirited style, and ethnic costumes with intricate and eye-catching patterns... are very suitable for customers to have outstanding and meaningful photos when visiting the Tam Dao tourist area.”

In the Tam Dao tourist area, the costume rental service at the shops is very popular.

To meet the diverse needs of young people for "virtual life" (showing off online), it is predicted that in the coming time, costume rental services will continue to expand, attracting many people interested in investing in this business.