John Lewis is dipping its toe into clothing rental after kicking off a trial with kidswear rental platform Thelittleloop. 

Thelittleloop website screengrab

Customers pay a recurring fee to Thelittleloop to rent childrenswear items

The department store chain has made 51 products from its spring/summer collection available to rent through thelittleloop.com.

During the pilot, Thelittleloop users will be able to add John Lewis items to their subscription plans. 

Customers pay a recurring fee, starting from £18 per month to buy credits, which they then use to rent childrenswear items. Users can select from a range of brands including Frugi, Kite and Hunter and Boo. 

Clothes can be rented and swapped at any point, with all returned items being professionally cleaned and repaired as required before being rented out again at a price reflecting their condition.  

Once clothes reach the end of their usable life cycle, they are recycled in the UK. 

John Lewis & Partners fashion category lead Glynis Williams told Drapers: “Thelittleloop reflects our ambition to offer more sustainable ownership options and forms part of the commitment we made to our customers to reduce the greenhouse-gas footprint of our textile supply chains by 50% by 2030.”

Williams added that John Lewis could launch a womenswear rental scheme “in the future” as it explores other green initiatives.

  • Get the latest fashion news and analysis straight to your inbox – sign up for our weekly newsletter