October 26, 2012
Real Women Take to the Runway
Does this look good on me? A common question asked by one woman to another coming out of store dressing rooms across the country may now have something of an online equivalent with the introduction earlier this week of "Our Runway," a social shopping platform on Rent the Runway, a website for dress and accessory rentals.
Our Runway allows women to share snapshots of how they looked in a particular garment so that others with similar body types can get an idea of how they would look. The site is promoting the option as a break from super thin women who typically model clothes.
"Consumers today are incredibly smart and truly care about seeing what a product looks like on a real woman," said Jennifer Hyman, CEO and co-founder of Rent the Runway, in a press release. "With Our Runway, we are creating a platform for the everyday woman to discover amazing styles that work best for her body, and forming a community that celebrates every woman’s special moments. It’s empowering to see thousands of photos of diverse women of all ages, sizes and ethnicities feeling self-confident."
Women looking for a dress on the site go to its "Find Women Like Me" tool to enter their height, age, bust and dress size and age to "view thousands of women with comparable shapes in dresses available for rent."
"We are going to see a continuing steady stream of this," Kelly O’Keefe, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Brandcenter, told The New York Times. "It has the advantage for the consumer of seeing how something looks on real people, which is very attractive, and it has the advantage for the brand of getting real user participation, which is great. The disadvantage: people are an imperfect species."
BrainTrust
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Do women want to see others who look like themselves modeling clothes before buying or renting an item? Will others be following Rent the Runway’s lead with similar tools on shopping sites?
Poll
How demeaning to say “The disadvantage: people are an imperfect species”…if that is a reference to how women of varying sizes and shapes look in clothes. The point is that women want to look their best as they self define it. To date, others have defined looking good. In turn women buy clothing that they see on the model and are surprised to see how different it looks on them.
Now there is a choice. Buy clothing that makes you like the way you look instead of clothing that detracts from your self image. I think we’ll see more of this. And I hope it assists women of all ages find a way out of the self-hate labyrinth.
Fashion is aspirational. This is not.
I have seen a number of new technologies to help shoppers determine how they look in order to improve the selling opportunity with a dressing room. The use of kiosks, tablets, and something called the Magic Mirror all allow a shopper to “phone a friend” so to speak to get validation that the garment looks good on them. Some of these technologies actually allow the shopper to tell their friends about the product and the great sale going on in the store. This then becomes a part of the marketing success of the technolgy. Since not every brand’s size 2 is the very same from season to season the changing room and its technology will be a great help to the shopper and in my opinion, when done right to the retailer as well.
“Real women” have been making inroads into advertising for some time now, with generally positive results. I think this has the potential to be very popular.
I am not exactly sure what the statement, “The disadvantage: people are an imperfect species” is meant to convey. I think it was a bad choice of words.
There is a clear movement away from the perfect (whoever is defining “perfect”) and photo shopping in fashion. That movement is being driven by the younger demographics. This is just another step.
Further, as more and more sales go to the internet, shoppers will demand truth in presentation. The fashion industry will fight it, but the trend will continue.
The intent is admirable. The execution may be in question. And the choices of some words in the article are definitely poor.
This idea is of course nothing new. Many great retailers and CPGs have had tools for shoppers to see either themselves or “real-sized” models. I applaud the effort to get away from the angry-looking runway models. Give them all a cheeseburger, for crying out loud!
Agree with Frank, this is a baby step in a direction that a number of new technologies are trying to solve. eBay’s fashion iPhone app allows you to ‘try on’ glasses using augmented reality. Cisco had a ‘magic mirror’ commercial a couple of years ago, (not that they can execute on it). I expect we’ll see more use of augmented reality and other technology to try clothes on ‘you’ not just someone that looks like you.
I support the idea of models that are real looking, not an achievable standard. It’s great to have a look that is something to strive for as long as it is a healthy goal.
Really? This is basically pandering to women’s egos to find an alternate perspective because they cannot make their own decisions. Ridiculous. Try on a dress, decide if you like it, and make your decision. Anything less is unacceptable.
As a ‘woman of a certain age’ myself, I think this concept is great. I would love to see an outfit on someone with my same body shape and size. Additionally though, I think many women need someone to point out the tips of what works and what doesn’t for your shape and size. Maybe they can add that feature? Ahemmmm….
More Discussions
How Timely Is the Planned Lowe’s Website Renovation Focusing on Personalization?
Is Lowe’s being timely with its website reno, and is it right to be placed as…Should Costco Be Opening Members-Only Gas Stations?
Is this the right move for the warehouse club?As Boomers ‘Age Out of Peak Purchasing,’ How Can National Brands Retain Interest With Gen Z?
According to a recent First Insight study titled “Is Gen Z Still Choosing Your Brand,” while…
How demeaning to say “The disadvantage: people are an imperfect species”…if that is a reference to how women of varying sizes and shapes look in clothes. The point is that women want to look their best as they self define it. To date, others have defined looking good. In turn women buy clothing that they see on the model and are surprised to see how different it looks on them.
Now there is a choice. Buy clothing that makes you like the way you look instead of clothing that detracts from your self image. I think we’ll see more of this. And I hope it assists women of all ages find a way out of the self-hate labyrinth.
Fashion is aspirational. This is not.
I have seen a number of new technologies to help shoppers determine how they look in order to improve the selling opportunity with a dressing room. The use of kiosks, tablets, and something called the Magic Mirror all allow a shopper to “phone a friend” so to speak to get validation that the garment looks good on them. Some of these technologies actually allow the shopper to tell their friends about the product and the great sale going on in the store. This then becomes a part of the marketing success of the technolgy. Since not every brand’s size 2 is the very same from season to season the changing room and its technology will be a great help to the shopper and in my opinion, when done right to the retailer as well.
“Real women” have been making inroads into advertising for some time now, with generally positive results. I think this has the potential to be very popular.
I am not exactly sure what the statement, “The disadvantage: people are an imperfect species” is meant to convey. I think it was a bad choice of words.
There is a clear movement away from the perfect (whoever is defining “perfect”) and photo shopping in fashion. That movement is being driven by the younger demographics. This is just another step.
Further, as more and more sales go to the internet, shoppers will demand truth in presentation. The fashion industry will fight it, but the trend will continue.
The intent is admirable. The execution may be in question. And the choices of some words in the article are definitely poor.
This idea is of course nothing new. Many great retailers and CPGs have had tools for shoppers to see either themselves or “real-sized” models. I applaud the effort to get away from the angry-looking runway models. Give them all a cheeseburger, for crying out loud!
Agree with Frank, this is a baby step in a direction that a number of new technologies are trying to solve. eBay’s fashion iPhone app allows you to ‘try on’ glasses using augmented reality. Cisco had a ‘magic mirror’ commercial a couple of years ago, (not that they can execute on it). I expect we’ll see more use of augmented reality and other technology to try clothes on ‘you’ not just someone that looks like you.
I support the idea of models that are real looking, not an achievable standard. It’s great to have a look that is something to strive for as long as it is a healthy goal.
Really? This is basically pandering to women’s egos to find an alternate perspective because they cannot make their own decisions. Ridiculous. Try on a dress, decide if you like it, and make your decision. Anything less is unacceptable.
As a ‘woman of a certain age’ myself, I think this concept is great. I would love to see an outfit on someone with my same body shape and size. Additionally though, I think many women need someone to point out the tips of what works and what doesn’t for your shape and size. Maybe they can add that feature? Ahemmmm….