Rent your Schuh shoes to complete your Hirestreet look

Schuh are the latest retailer to buddy up with Hirestreet, the fashion and footwear rental marketplace, enabling consumers to rent and return rather than buy.

If you’re looking to kit yourself out for an event, maybe a wedding or day at the races, and you know you’re only going to wear the outfit once, then why not rent rather than buy is the proposition. With traffic reported to be up 300% on last year, sustainable rental is proving to hit the spot with environmentally conscious consumers.

Schuh’s launch of a rental collection to allow shoppers to rent high value occasion wear, rather than buy and just wear once, is a clear indication of listening to customer feedback. Consumers are increasingly having to justify high value purchases and ensure that they are getting their money’s worth. They are also concerned about the environmental impact of one-off purchases, a recent study we completed found that 85% of respondents agree or strongly agree that brands have a social responsibility to protect both people and the planet by offering sustainable initiatives.

Thanks to social media, consumers are extremely vocal about what they want from brands and it’s more important than ever that brands have robust processes in place to listen to them. This move from Schuh is an indication of a brand that is not only attuned to customer feedback, but bold enough to act on it

– Ed Hill, Senior Vice President, Bazaarvoice

Schuh joins a host of fashion brands on the rental platform, including ASOS, Simply Be, Oasis, Warehouse and M&S.

At Hirestreet, we are always looking for ways to expand our offering to meet our customers’ needs. As our audience becomes more comfortable with rental, they are looking at how they utilise its power beyond just their dress or core item and create a complete rental look.

We are thrilled to be partnering with Schuh on our first shoe collection; giving our renters the opportunity to access complimentary footwear to their outfit at amazing value.

– Isabella West, CEO, Hirestreet

With rentals costing from £5 for five days or a tenner for ten, it looks like a great proposition, but it might not be quite as cost effective as its environmental credentials. We spotted a pair of killer heels in blue which you can rent for £5 as opposed to the retail price of £40… but they’re reduced on the Schuh website so you can actually buy them outright for just £13.99. It doesn’t take a mathematician to realise that if you wear them three times it’s cheaper to buy… or wear them more than twice, or if you intend to flog them on sites like Vinted or depop, you can remain sustainable a little more economically.

But maybe I’m being harsh, you’re unlikely to just rent a pair of shoes as opposed to renting a full outfit of multiple items and tag the shoes on to complete your look. And that makes more sense as coughing up for an entire outfit will definitely cost considerable more than renting.

It’s probably best just to ignore the RRPs displayed, and if you make the decision that the next event you need an outfit for will be a sustainable rental rather than a fast fashion global warming nightmare, then Hirestreet might be just the marketplace for you…. and yes now you can hire your Schuh shoes to complete your look.