When Aanchal Saini of Delhi started her rental fashion venture, Rent It Bae, in 2016, and later acquired Flyrobe, a rental fashion platform, in 2019, she never imagined receiving a game-changing call — from the Shark Tank India, Season 3 team. “I was on cloud nine when Flyrobe was invited to the contest as I had not even applied for it. It was sheer luck and hard work that paid off. However, like all contestants, we had to give multiple auditions over a period of 10 months until the final telecast,” says an elated Saini, CEO of Flyrobe.
Was she nervous? Saini says it was definitely “no cakewalk” even though she had walked in thinking that since she was used to pitching ideas to investors this, too, would not be a tough nut to crack. However, her inability to “mug up the business team’s version of her pitch” stressed her out. “A night before the shoot, despite reading it some 2,000 times, I wasn’t able to learn it by heart. I finally presented my version in front of the Sharks, which was received well,” she says.
Saini’s pitch about Flyrobe, which allows people to rent out their clothes and enables buyers to reuse it on rent with the proceedings going to the owner, was about promoting a circular economy. She secured a commitment of Rs 50 lakh from one of the judges, Aman Gupta, co-founder of boAt. “As Flyrobe already has over two million users nationwide with online presence and physical stores in 10 cities of India, we plan to scale up and open 100 stores in the next three years.”
Going against the norm
Saini has been a lawyer dealing with matrimony, arbitration and civil cases. Hers is not a story of a “boring corporate job”. She used to “love” being a lawyer, she says. So, what brought about a change of heart? “I was troubled by the problem of mass consumption. As a teen, I was one of those girls who would buy a new dress for every event. I would complain that ‘I don’t have enough clothes’ despite my closet being full. Many times, I used to borrow clothes during my school and college years, but as we grow old and start working professionally, I realised nobody borrows. With Instagram, we always want to present ourselves anew. Taking clothes on rent is the right way to go. If you take an outfit on rent instead of buying, you save about 24,000 litres of water!” she says.
Driven by passion, she started her rental garment business in 2016 that initially dealt in western wear (including luxury brands like Prada and Gucci). The pieces were for as low as Rs 300 but it did not take off. “I realised that Indians are not into western wear when it comes to renting. Moreover, many had only heard the word ‘rental garments’ whenever their kids had to enter a fancy dress competition at their school. I used to get calls from parents saying ‘my kid wants to wear a brinjal costume or a clown ensemble’, asking if I have one! Flyrobe’s journey made people believe that rental garments can be fashionable too, stylised to one’s preferences and available for a myriad of events,” the 37-year-old says.
Offering choice, newness
After a decade, Flyrobe has become a top choice for occasionwear for all genders. It offers rental pieces from ace designers such as Manish Malhotra, Sabyasachi, Gaurav Gupta, Shantanu and Nikhil, Tarun Tahiliani to Papa Don’t Preach among others. “If you are directly buying from a designer, they may have a particular style or a colour palette but when you are buying from a multi-designer store, it gives you more choice,” she says, adding that the bridal wear range starts from Rs 1,500 and goes up to `l lakh on rent.
That celebrities have been amplifying the message that renting is trending has helped Flyrobe. “When Sonam Kapoor says on Koffee With Karan that she takes clothes on rent, or Kate Middleton appears in a rented dress, it brings circular fashion into popular discourse,” she says. The pandemic has also given push to sustainability. “In the post-pandemic era, many people faced a financial crunch. They do not want to lose any opportunity of making money now. We have got calls from to-be-brides, saying they want their lehenga to be immediately put on rent the moment her wedding is over! This means, we have outfits just a few days old,” says Saini.
Today, Flyrobe has 6,000-plus active members. While the concept is doing well in Tier I cities like Delhi and Bengaluru, Tier-II cities have more potential, says Saini. “That’s because there are barely any designer stores there. So, if someone desires to wear a Sabyasachi sari, we give them the option to rent it. It’s pocket friendly, eco-friendly and gives people the chance to increase the lifespan of clothes,” she adds. The entrepreneur is hopeful that the new generation knows where to invest its money. “Youngsters are sorted. They may splurge on travel, a high-end meal at a chic café, but not on an outfit they have to wear just once a year,” she says.