The Tech Start-Up Leading UK’s Fashion Rental Revolution

Let’s talk about how the pandemic has changed consumer’s purchase behavior. Post 2020, the hot topic in fashion seems to have jumped from the newest Gucci merchandise to sustainability, with sharing/circular economy finally adopted in real business and seen as an acceptable norm.

But if you think HURR is just another fashion rental platform, you are sorely mistaken. The young business, having been established a mere 3.5 years ago (master-minded and co-founded by Victoria Prew, then only 24), is actually a retail-tech start-up that already counts industry giants Selfridges and Depop as commercial partners.

“I co-founded HURR with the ambition to create the world’s leading fashion rental platform.” Says Prew, who’s also the company’s CEO: “We’ve led the rental revolution at every stage here in the UK and seen tremendous success building out our proprietary peer-to-peer technology, opening the UK’s first fashion rental popup in Selfridges, and powering retail for 75+ exclusive fashion partners. We’ve now proven our product-market fit and have ambitious plans to turn HURR into a ‘fashion rental unicorn’ in the future.” Prew adds: “The circular economy is the only future for fashion and HURR is paving the way.”

Having won a few awards in a short space of time since its inception (including ranking as one of the world’s top 50 retail-tech startups and Forbes 30 Under 30), HURR is now one of the UK’s fastest growing tech start-ups, working the buy-in of leading fashion brands including Selfridges, Nanushka, BA&SH and The Vampire’s Wife.

Prew explains fashion was never the reason she started HURR: “I’m not the most fashion-y person, I’m wearing yet another floral dress.” The young CEO laughs and says, in a voice deeper and more authoritative than one would expect from someone her age — her confidence and drive emanating through in an endearing and humble manner that’s extremely relatable and likable.

“In the UK alone, customers spend £2.7 billion on outfits they wear just once. The industry is under pressure to do better and HURR provides all of the shortcuts to a curated, sustainable wardrobe. Circular models including rental & resale are growing 10 – 20 times faster than the broader retail market and are expected to account for up to 1/4 of customers’ closets over the next 10 years.” Talking business, Prew is all about stats and the billion-dollar market opportunity HURR has tapped into: “We started our rental offering with peer-to-peer and quickly realized what we overlooked — which is even bigger — our capability to power rental for fashion brands via our white-label solution, HURR Enterprise.”

HURR Enterprise allows the rental technology developed by HURR to be used by any fashion brands looking to launch rental in-house, and is the “rental as a service” platform spun off from the main idea of HURR when it first started. The service launched with a bang, with Selfridges Rental as the platform’s first client, who has committed current season womenswear and menswear worth millions to its in-house rental offering.

“We have now build an entire eco-system, leveraging HURR’s proprietary technology and operational infrastructure.” Speaking of the business’ current operation and future plans in the pipeline, Prew doesn’t hesitate: “As we build our brand and reputation through the HURR peer-to-peer marketplace, we strengthen our sales pitch to prospective fashion brands and HURR Enterprise clients. Then, as more brands and retailers join the HURR eco-system, we expand our inventory, deepening our data insights, trend forecasting and analytics.”

HURR has done incredibly well, and Prew isn’t shy to voice her goal — to be the world’s most successful circular fashion rental platform, and the next billion-dollar business. So far HURR has announced some convincing statistics***:

1. As of 1st May 2021, the company saw a 850% YoY increase in registered users, a 200% YoY website traffic growth and a 150% YoY increase in rentals.
2. HURR is the first to launch a multi-brand platform rental-as-a-service offering in the UK, with fully integrated logistics and fulfilment. 
3. Working on proprietary technology the SaaS platform utilizes existing HURR technology, with the stock cross published to HURR to maximize revenues and rental traffic.  
4. With a hybrid model powering peer-to-peer rentals, 75+ fashion brands and the option to white-label HURR’s technology, HURR offers a way no matter how brands want to take part in the rental revolution.

On August 4 2021, HURR caused another stir in the industry by announcing its most recent collaboration with community-powered marketplace fashion app Depop and the launch of “The Loop” — offering consumers worldwide the chance to purchase a collection of popular pre-rented (rented at least 20 times or more) items featuring pieces from Stine Goya, Rixo, BY FAR, and more, with up to 80% off.

“At Depop, we want to be able to give people opportunities to dress differently everyday with unique fashion, but a smaller footprint. That’s the future of fashion.” Says Justine Porterie, Head of Sustainability at Depop. “The Loop helps ensure clothes are kept out of landfill and find a second life through resale.” Adds Prew.

People see these glorious moments and often overlook the fact it takes time and effort to get there. “When we partnered with the world’s leading department store Selfridges, it very much ‘legitimized’ the idea of fashion rental and put HURR on a global stage overnight.” Referring to where she, and the company, is today, Prew says it wasn’t overnight success or even a remotely easy journey. “The biggest challenge I’ve had is learning my value as a young entrepreneur. I was only 25 when I raised our first external funding round and understanding my value has taken time. This past year has also been more testing than ever before — I’ve had to learn how to deal with total uncertainty.”

Even today, Prew’s role as HURR’s CEO spans from high level strategy and investor relations, to day-to-day customer service and sometimes even packing rentals. “We’re a 15-person strong team based from our central London HQ. There is no typical day, every day is unpredictable. It’s taken over three years to lay the groundwork for HURR’s success, but to this day I’ve never truly doubted that we’re onto the next big thing.” Prew does think the one skill that was essential to her success is the ability to sell: “As an entrepreneur, you’re selling everyday. Whether that’s to a potential candidate that you want to work for you, selling the vision to new investors or presenting business strategies internally, the most important skill I’ve learnt is selling the value of HURR.”

I ask Prew how she balance work and life, and she says candidly: “I don’t really switch off. I wake up in the morning and it’s like, ‘let’s go it’s show time.’” 

She does try to complete an #Offline48 every few weeks — 48 hours over a weekend without a phone or any screens. “I use it as a time to disconnect and reconnect. I’ve burnt out before and learnt that hard way that I make the smartest decisions when I’m well rested and have taken a break.”

Speaking of what’s next for HURR, Prew doesn’t miss a beat: “We’re fundraising right now, next year we’ll expand internationally and we’ll double our team size in the next month. On a personal level, I’m trying to manage the transition from start-up founder to scale-up founder and also achieve some balance — focusing on things that really matter. I’m obsessed with what the future of the sharing economy looks like and how we can be part of it.”

You can now rent clothes via HURR official website at www.hurrcollective.com and buy resale fashion from The Loop via Depop app.

***Please note the writer has not independently verified the figures provided by HURR.