Iconic luxury department store Harrods will now rent you clothes from high-end designers, and $1,000 dresses cost $20 a day

• UK luxury department store Harrods will now let shoppers rent designer clothes.
• Prices start at $8 a day to rent a designer top. There is a four-day minimum rental period.
• Dresses that would normally cost more than $1,000 to buy can be rented for about $20 a day.

One of the world's most iconic luxury department stores, Harrods, has joined a growing list of retailers joining the fashion rental market.

London-based Harrods has partnered with a UK fashion rental marketplace My Wardrobe HQ to let customers rent the designer brands sold at its Knightsbridge store.

Prices start at $8 a day for a minimum of four days to rent a designer top. Dresses that would normally cost more than $1,000 to buy can be rented for about $20 a day.

According to Business of Fashion, Harrods will provide the stock and My Wardrobe HQ will handle the logistics and marketing. Customers can rent the clothes via My Wardrobe HQ's website or in its pop-up location at the Harrods store.

The fashion rental business is booming, spurred by companies such as Rent the Runway launching subscription-based services for customers to rent clothes. Increasingly, retailers have been partnering with clothes-rental sites or launching their own services, such as Urban Outfitters' Nuuly.

For Harrods, it's a way of using last season's inventory that was stuck in stores over the pandemic.

"There have been many spectacular collections and stand-out pieces that haven't had the chance to be seen or celebrated, so offering these pieces to our customers to rent for their next event is a way of giving these products a new life," Harrods fashion director Lydia King told WWD.

"Our fashion customers have more weddings, birthdays and other celebrations than ever before, and the joy of event dressing is back," she said.