Armarium, the on-demand app that allows women to borrow a selection of current, luxury ready-to-wear and accessories, launches out of beta today.
The app started in April as an invite-only platform for fashion insiders, but is now available to everyone. So far, Armarium has raised $1.25 million in seed funding from several angel investors including Metamorphic Ventures, Carmen Busquets, former cofounding investor of Net-a-porter, and various strategic partners.
Armarium is headed by Alexandra Lind Rose, who worked in the fashion industry for more than 20 years, and Trisha Gregory, former head of public relations of Salvatore Ferragamo North America.
“For years, we’ve talked about how hard it is to find statement pieces from the runways to wear to events during the day and night or even to dinner with friends,” Rose said. “That’s when we started thinking about how we could solve this issue, and the idea for Armarium was born,” added Gregory. The offerings include such brands as Alberta Ferretti, Etro, Jimmy Choo, Nina Ricci, Anthony Vaccarello, Peter Pilotto, Sonia Rykiel and Roberto Cavalli.
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Normal retail prices for the rtw range from $2,000 to $15,000 and Armarium charges 10 to 15 percent of that to borrow a dress or accessory. The average cost of borrowing rtw is between $450 and $600, and the average cost of borrowing accessories — which include jewelry, gloves, clutches and handbags — is between $200 and $300. All of Armarium’s items can be borrowed when needed for a four-day period. New brands are coming in regularly.
“To date, we are showing an average repeat customer trend of 28 percent, with the average rental consisting of 1.25 items at around $300. We know our customer is pleased with the level of luxury product assortment that we offer and in addition, she’s consistently reliant on our stylists to further her look and help ease any fit concerns,” Gregory said.
Stylists can be booked from Armarium’s in-house styling team or from the Style Brigade, a team of fashion and celebrity stylists. A stylist can come to one’s home or a customer can meet the stylist at Armarium’s Fifth Avenue showroom at 1 East 52nd Street.
The company plans a party July 22 at Baron’s Cove in Sag Harbor with a pop-up showroom that will feature Missoni summer cocktail dresses and palazzo pants, new Sara Battaglia x Ferragamo clutches and vintage pieces from La Double J.