Rent the Runway Sets Up Shop in Henri Bendel

From BaubleBar and Everlane to Indochino and Warby Parker, online-native apparel and accessories brands have taken to pop-up stores as a way to reach new customers and forge deeper connections with existing ones. On Thursday, Rent the Runway joined the pack, unveiling an impressive showroom installation at the storied Hendri Bendel department store at 712 Fifth Avenue in New York.

From 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Monday to Saturday (and noon to 7 p.m. on Sundays), shoppers can examine a selection of dresses and accessories from the company's 175 brands, which include Badgley Mischka and Vera Wang. Typically, a customer rents a dress for a special occasion, like a wedding, from renttherunway.com; to increase the chances it will fit, the company sends the dress in two sizes, which the customer returns in either a four- or eight-day window. The benefit of the Hendri Bendel showroom is the ability to test fit first-hand: Customers will be able to try on a wide array of dresses and accessories, which they can rent on a number of future occasions. Read more...