It may seem pretty unattainable for someone on a college student’s budget to wear a designer frock seen in Vogue and on celebrities such as Blake Lively, Kate Winslet and Rihanna.

However, in the age of the Internet, that dream dress seen on the red carpet can literally show up at your door for a fraction of the price, courtesy of Rent the Runway at UCLA.

Launched in 2009, Rent the Runway is a website for high-end designer dress rentals, started by Harvard Business School graduates Jenny Fleiss and Jenn Hyman. Now, Rent the Runway has created a UCLA branch to cater to the college audience as part of their college tour and offer students the chance to rent runway looks for up to 90 percent off the retail price. The registration for the site is free and users can choose from a variety of designer dresses to rent for a specific time period. The rental dress comes with the next size up in case the first size does not fit.
Customers mail the dresses back with free return shipping.

Third-year economics and sociology student and director of Rent the Runway at UCLA Tiffany Chao was always interested in fashion, and when Rent the Runway was looking for campus representatives to expand their target audience at UCLA in fall 2010, Chao said she found the company’s concept a creative way to express fashion to college students.

“I want it to grow a community of representatives for Rent the Runway at UCLA and incorporate it into UCLA culture,” Chao said.

With rental prices ranging from $40 for cocktail dresses and up to $300 for high-end gowns, Rent the Runway’s selection of designers include Diane von Furstenberg, Alberta Ferretti, Herve Leger and others. Third-year physiology student Danielle Quon used the website to rent a Herve Leger dress that retailed for more than $1,000 and said that the dress cost about $100 to rent.

“I’d say it’s not affordable for everyday rental, but considering the retail prices of these dresses that you won’t wear again, it’s kind of a waste to pay full price anyway,” Quon said.

While the rental prices may run a little steep for a college budget, Chao said that she wants to plan discounts for frequent customers and attendees of Rent the Runway events. However, with a small budget to work with marketing and event planning, the company’s campus representatives are first looking to create a loyal customer following at UCLA.

“Since it’s a new company, we don’t have a budget to work with to market the brand so we really have to rely on the campus representatives to be creative in how to promote Rent the Runway,” Chao said. “I want to be able to gain enough of a customer base that we can offer discounts and specific prizes that people can win for attending an event. … I guess it depends on how successful we are at marketing Rent the Runway and how many people respond to it.”

The group is looking to the Greek system in particular to promote the company, where sororities often have events that require evening dresses and accessories.

“Rent the Runway is really good for sorority girls who want to go to date parties, but don’t want to wear the typical Forever 21 dress. You’re going to get photographed in the dress already, so the website is good for dresses you’d probably only wear once,” said co-manager and third-year communications student Melissa Deni.

On Monday, Rent the Runway at UCLA launched an all-sorority challenge on their Facebook page, where one Herve Leger dress from the company will be worn by a representative from each participating house and styled to represent each sorority, with public voting beginning on March 7 for whichever house styles the dress the best.

“The Rent the Runway team at UCLA is going to document the entire process … and upload it to Facebook. Whoever gets the most votes on their style will win an exclusive offer from Rent the Runway for their whole house,” Chao said.

Along with the sorority system, Rent the Runway at UCLA plans to collaborate with Fashion and Student Trends to promote the club’s annual fashion show with a separate fashion show and a DJ event at De Neve Plaza.

“It’s going to be a fun intro event to what the UCLA FAST fashion show will be like,” Chao said.
And with Rent the Runway at UCLA steadily expanding its name across campus, Chao said she hopes students can utilize the service for girls who just want something fancy to wear for an occasion.

“You might not have the money to buy a designer dress, or if you have the money, you might not know what to do with the dress afterwards,” Chao said. “Rent the Runway is an external closet for girls who go through this problem.”