????Rent the Runway把這兩種趨勢結合在了一起。它不僅順應共享經濟的大潮，而且充分利用了許多年輕女性對奢侈服飾的渴慕之情。沒過多久，海曼和弗雷斯就開始接洽時裝界人士，但許多人起初并不認同這種先購買再外租的方式。與一些時裝品牌的洽談是她們最難跨越的障礙。海曼說：“許多設計師直接拒絕了我們的購買請求，看到那副寧死不屈的架勢，我們當時非常沮喪。”為了說服設計師與她們合作，這對搭檔必須理解時裝品牌想要的東西（在大多數情況下，時裝公司希望自身品牌受到保護，同時確保自己的服飾不會因這項租賃業務而喪失真實的銷售機會），還要向他們展示，Rent the Runway有望成為各大時裝品牌獲得新客戶、觸及新受眾群體的主要渠道。

????甚至在海曼和弗雷斯向設計師和風投公司兜售經營理念的時候，她們兩人也沒有做好全身心投入這項事業的準備。兩人其實已經聯系好了其他工作機會。但就在距離弗雷斯大婚之日不到兩周的時候，她們獲得了貝恩資本(Bain Capital Ventures)175萬美元的首輪投資。2010年，Rent the Runway收到了高原資本(Highland Partners)提供的150萬美元投資，2011年,凱鵬華盈(Kleiner Perkins)投入了150萬美元。至2013年3月份，它又籌集了2,440萬美元資金。這家服裝租賃網站現在擁有超過300萬會員，用戶數量和收入的年均增幅均接近100%（它不愿透露具體的營收額）。

????盡管“服裝版奈飛公司”這一綽號包含贊美之意，但海曼并不是特別喜歡這個類比。她說：“奈飛公司經營的業務非常理性，而我們所做的一切，其實是在提供一種情感體驗。”

????每當出席電視節目或接受采訪時，這兩位創始人總是喜歡說，Rent the Runway希望為女性提供一種“灰姑娘般的體驗”。但它其實并沒有這么浪漫。這是一家旨在解決問題的公司。它無疑將幫助許多女性解決一個大問題：不用花大價錢就可以盛裝出席新年前夜派對（新年前夜和舞會高峰期，其實也是這家公司生意最興隆的時刻）。這并不是說女性永遠也不會購買奢華禮服了。但現在，她們沒必要非得這樣做。這，就是高明的企業家精神。（財富中文網）

????譯者：葉寒???

????Rent the Runway married the two trends. It harnesses the shareable economy and takes advantage of the aspirations to luxury that many young women harbor today. Hyman and Fleiss soon approached people at fashion labels, but many were initially hesitant to let Rent the Runway buy and rent out their products. Their talks with some of the labels were the most memorably difficult hurdles they faced. "Designers basically told us that over their dead body would they ever let us buy inventory from them," says Hyman, "so that was pretty discouraging." To persuade designers to partner with them, the duo had to understand what the labels wanted (which in most cases was brand protection and the certainty that they weren't going to lose real purchases by making their products available for rent) and show them that Rent the Runway could be a major channel for them to get new customers and reach new demographics.

????Even as they were pitching their concept to designers and VC firms, neither woman was ready to fully commit. Both had lined up other jobs for when they graduated. But less than two weeks before Fleiss's wedding, they got an initial round of $1.75 million from Bain Capital Ventures. In 2010, Rent the Runway received another $15 million in funding from Highland Partners, and in 2011 $15 million from Kleiner Perkins. By March 2013 it had raised another $24.4 million. The site has more than 3 million members and the business is growing at nearly 100% year over year in users and revenues (it won't disclose the latter).

????While the moniker "Netflix for dresses" is meant admiringly, Hyman doesn't particularly like that analogy. "Netflix is a very rational business, and everything that we are doing is about delivering an emotional experience," she says.

????Indeed, both co-founders, when they appear on television or do interviews, like to say that Rent the Runway gives women a "Cinderella experience." But it's less romantic than that. It's a company that solves a problem. It'll certainly solve one for women seeking a New Year's Eve party outfit at low cost. (And indeed, their biggest business comes at New Year's Eve and prom season.) That's not to say women are never going to buy dresses anymore. But now they don't necessarily have to. That's clever entrepreneurship.