Today, Rent the Runway is in the early stages of a strategic turnaround, led by that same Jennifer Hyman. Hyman recently joined the show on the company’s progress on the Glossy Podcast, outlining some of the major initiatives that are helping to turn around the business. These initiatives, like the recently announced 11 billion dollar investment in inventory, smart brand partnerships, and DTC service offerings are energizing. This decision follows on the heels of Rent the Runway’s recent efforts to prioritize near breakeven on a free cash flow basis.

Inventory Investment and Brand Expansion

For Rent the Runway, one of the biggest drivers of growth was inventory, which Hyman highlighted as a key driver here. Learning from the pandemic In 2025, the company increased its investment in inventory and assortment more than ever before, nearly doubling its items in stock. This significant influx allows Rent the Runway to acquire more inventory for particular events and seasonal needs. This ultimately leads to a better experience for consumers who often have more choices available.

"We have made in 2025 the biggest investment that we’ve ever made into our inventory and into our assortment. We know that, for our business, inventory is the key to growth. We spent the last few years bringing our business to a place where we were essentially nearly breakeven on a free cash flow basis, really changing our margin profile, our unit economics, the way we actually acquire inventory and setting up the business for this next phase. So we decided to go for it this year and double the inventory." - Jennifer Hyman

Widening the catalog Beyond adding new categories, Rent the Runway is working to expand its inventories from popular brands. During the last year, the company has up to four times its inventory assortment and depth in specific brands, including Ulla Johnson and Veronica Beard.

"We understand that there are some blockbuster brands on Rent the Runway, where, when a customer receives items from those brands, she actually is more loyal overall. And so what we’ve done is we’ve quadrupled the inventory assortment and depth and breadth in those brands so that more of our customers can access Ulla Johnson and Veronica Beard and the brands that she really loves." - Jennifer Hyman

This strategic shift was designed to better build brand loyalty through increased availability of in-demand styles.

Strategic Initiatives and Service Enhancements

As the RTW market has matured, Rent the Runway has clarified its business model. For the past few years, they've been focused on reaching a near breakeven point on a free cash flow basis. This required fundamental shifts in the company’s margin profile, unit economics, and inventory procurement strategies.

To further improve the in-vehicle experience for customers, the company is testing new service offerings as well. Rent the Runway started piloting these styling services a few quarters ago, first rolling them out as a manual process. By automating these services, the internal team can focus their energy on higher value actions. Now they can spend more time making welcome calls and offering one-on-one styling help.

Navigating Industry Challenges and Partner Collaboration

Hyman uniquely tackled big industry-wide issues, from long-term affects of tariffs to the tsunami of supply chain collapse. And she’s about to pitch 20 brand partners in L.A. This partnership seeks to seed productive and candid conversations about how we can collectively address these challenges.

"I hear people talking about fashion and tariffs and the impact on the news all of the time. And then, when I sit down with brands, no one knows what’s going on right now. No one has a plan yet. People are kind of running around trying to figure it out. This all happened so suddenly. Over 90% of the production of fashion happens in China. It is not feasible, easy or possible for that production to just move overnight to other places. It’s certainly not going to move to the U.S. And so I think that all of our brand partners are trying to figure out, like, is this real? I am taking it day by day with our brand partners. I’m actually going next week to L.A. to sit down with 20 of our brand partners there and just going to have open conversations with them on how we should handle this together." - no specific person mentioned in the provided text

This collaborative approach further highlights Rent the Runway’s commitment to addressing industry challenges in conjunction with its brand partners.