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  • December 2017 (Revised March 2019)
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Armarium: Luxury Fashion Brands for Rent

By: Jill Avery, David Fubini, Natasha Dossa and Devon Stewart
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:20
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Abstract

Armarium, a two-sided online platform that offered consumers the opportunity to rent the most coveted, current season high fashion clothing and accessories from the top global luxury brands, had emerged from its first sales season with two distinct customer segments: the High Net Worth (HNW) woman and the High Earner, Not Rich Yet (HENRY) woman. As it began to scale its operations, it had to decide which customer segment was the more desirable target market and how to refine the company's value proposition to maximize value creation for both consumers and the luxury brands that supported the business model. The jury was still out on whether a rental model could attract higher income women who could afford to buy luxury brands and whether it could support the $400 rental price points Armarium would need to charge for its one-of-a-kind pieces with retail values that could reach as high as $15,000. The two founders faced significant scaling challenges, from how to establish guardrails around curation of the collection to go-to-market distribution channel strategy and customer acquisition strategy.

Keywords

Brand Management; Retailing; Sharing Economy; Luxury Brand; Ecommerce; Startup; Fashion; Brand Positioning; Customer Acquisition; Internet Marketing; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Business Startups; Luxury; Consumer Behavior; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Media; E-commerce; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States; North America

Citation

Avery, Jill, David Fubini, Natasha Dossa, and Devon Stewart. "Armarium: Luxury Fashion Brands for Rent." Harvard Business School Case 518-047, December 2017. (Revised March 2019.)
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About The Authors

Jill J. Avery

Marketing
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David G. Fubini

Organizational Behavior
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Related Work

    • June 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Armarium: Luxury Fashion Brands for Rent

    By: Jill Avery and David Fubini
    • December 2017 (Revised March 2019)
    • Faculty Research

    Armarium: Luxury Fashion Brands for Rent

    By: Jill Avery, David Fubini, Natasha Dossa and Devon Stewart
Related Work
  • Armarium: Luxury Fashion Brands for Rent By: Jill Avery and David Fubini
  • Armarium: Luxury Fashion Brands for Rent By: Jill Avery, David Fubini, Natasha Dossa and Devon Stewart
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