Rent the Runway is ending its unlimited monthly subscription — but you can still sign up for it before next week and enjoy it until 'early next year'

• Rent the Runway announced plans to discontinue its unlimited subscription, just one month after the company permanently closed all its brick-and-mortar stores.
• The new plans will allow customers to have access to the same options, but receive "the same or more items as they did before," according to CEO Jennifer Hyman.
• The unlimited subscription will be around until next year, but will not take any new sign-ups after this week.

On Thursday, Rent the Runway announced it would be ending its unlimited subscription, according to an open letter penned by CEO Jennifer Hyman on the company's sister website, The Shift.

Hyman said the reason for the change is to "stabilize [RTR's] revenue stream," and that talks of ending the unlimited subscription had been happening for about 18 months, long before the coronavirus pandemic.

While the unlimited plan is being phased out, the company will still have the 1 Swap and 2 Swap subscriptions available, but they've being renamed the 4 item plan and 8 item plan, respectively.

There will also be a new $199 per month, 16 item plan, which includes access to the company's entire inventory.

Hyman said the new subscription models will help customers save money while still having access to the same inventory.

"Even prior to COVID-19, most of our Unlimited Swap members — 70% — were renting fewer than 8 items per month," Hyman wrote. "With our new subscription structure, these members can opt into a lower-priced plan and receive the same or more items as they did before."

In a different statement to fashion and luxury website Glossy, Hyman said "Our new membership structure brings our community's most requested features to life — including customization, flexibility, and increased focus on sustainability — and will have most of our customers paying less for their memberships while receiving the same or more items per month."

Users with the unlimited subscription will be able to use their subscription until next year and will then be encouraged to switch to one of the new plans. For anyone looking to take advantage of the unlimited plan until it's phased out, the company will allow customers to sign up for an unlimited subscription until next week.

The sunsetting of the unlimited plan is yet another big change this year for Rent the Runway. Last month, the company announced it would be permanently closing all of its brick-and-mortar stores in cities like New York and Chicago.

In May, Bloomberg reported the company raising funding at a $750 million valuation, losing its unicorn status and previous $1 billion valuation.