Toulouse: this company rents men’s clothing
A Toulouse company, Menone, markets clothing rental for men. The particularity, the proposed habits are adapted to everyday life and not to particular occasions.
Laurianne Aune and Maxence Lenoir aim to make quality clothing accessible and to reduce the ecological impact of their production.
To achieve this ideal, they praise habits for men and apply their leitmotif: “replace possession with use”. With them no smoking, but everyday clothes. Vests, pants, jackets and T-shirts are offered to their customers. The rental is not for an occasion but for every day.
This singular idea was born in 2019, from a frustration felt by Maxence. While still a student, his limited budget did not allow him to afford beautiful pieces and he struggled to find a happy medium between quality and price. Renting nice clothes that he could only sometimes appear to him as the solution. He submits his project to Laurianne. The pair then decide, due to the knowledge that Maxence has acquired in men’s fashion, to rent only men’s clothing.
“Men and women consume differently, targeting both was lost”, specifies Laurianne before adding “the rental of women’s clothing already existed in the form of a box”. Their system is radically different. “The rooms are rented for a minimum of thirty days and the rental can be renewed at the end of this period”, explains the twenty-something. A purchase proposal is also made when the thirty days are paid. Launched in November, Menone is only available online, although the two entrepreneurs would like to eventually open a pop-up store.
Three types of customers
Among the thirty or so tenants in Menone, three categories stand out. According to the co-founder, there are those who are “passionate about fashion and who come to rent a strong piece for a month or two. The second type is made up of men who want to be well dressed and regularly renew their wardrobe. Finally, the last, have a need to be reassured, which the rental allows. “They can wear the clothes before buying them to be sure of their choice”, analyzes Laurianne.
The company targets men between the ages of 20 and 30. A calculation that seems to pay off because, for the moment, the tenants are between 22 and 27 years old.
Men of the city, they mostly rent jackets and vests and abandon polo shirts. On average, the start-up’s customers keep the items for two consecutive months before returning them.