Maternity brand Isabella Oliver launches rental service

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jan 21, 2020

In a bid to increase the longevity of maternity clothing and encourage customers to ‘go greener’, UK-based maternity brand Isabella Oliver has launched a rental programme.

With more and more high street brands entering the maternity sector, expectant mums have more clothing options than ever before. But maternity wear has a short lifespan, with most women wearing specialist stretchy jeans and other maternity pieces only from around 16 weeks into the pregnancy and until just a few week after giving birth, meaning maternity clothing is often not seen as worth spending a lot of money on.

To tackle this issue, Isabella Oliver is offering customers the option to rent clothing including partywear and key pregnancy essentials for a period of two weeks. Customers also have the option to buy the product outright and the concept does seem particularly well suited to the maternity sector.

This could be a game-changer for the brand, which counts with Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson and Beyoncé among its fans, as well as the maternity industry at large. 

Geoff van Sonsbeeck, co-founder and CEO of Isabella Oliver, said: “We are committed to reducing the environmental impact of clothing. Rental is just one of the ways in which we are developing a circular textile economy, eliminating the need for fast fashion and therefore reducing garments going to landfill.”

The initiative is part of a series of measures being introduced by the British brand to become more sustainable. These include Recommerce, which seeks to prolong the lifecycle of pre-owned garments, and a pre-loved clothing donation scheme.

“We want our customers to rethink the way they shop, by renting clothes and reducing waste, making rental the right choice,” Geoff van Sonsbeeck continued.

The rental programme is currently available in the UK only.