Luxe Designer Fashion Hire: Vinnies launches Subiaco-based dress hire service in bid to help vulnerable women

Fashion fiends can rest easy knowing their wallets are going to a good cause after one of the nation’s top non-profits launched a dress hire service to help vulnerable women. Vinnies’ Luxe Designer Fashion Hire opened its Subiaco boutique on Thursday, with 100 per cent of profits set to be donated to West Australian women in need. The Western Suburbs store — located in the Station Street shopping centre next to Coles — has almost 2000 dresses for hire and boasts luxury brands like Zimmerman, Carla Zampatti and Bec & Bridge. With six changerooms, a red carpet, 360-degree selfie booths, and professional stylists, shoppers are encouraged to browse for “hours”. Vinnies social enterprise executive manager Carl Prowse said the store’s stocklist was “three times larger than any other fashion hire company in the country”. “We’ve got everything from school formals to high-end glitz and glamour, mother of the bride, summer dresses and race day dresses... we’re trying to cover all bases,” he told The West. “If you want to hang around for hours with three of your friends to try on all the dresses, we’re not going to rush you out the door.” Dress hires start at just $80, with sizes ranging from size four to 20. Garments can be hired for up to eight days. “One of the things we really want to deliver are high-quality clothes that haven’t been overworn,” stylist Zoe Hammond said. “Sometimes you go into rental hire places, and the clothes have so many stains and pilling on the bottom. “We’re just trying to make it really simple for people . . . we’ve got a huge selection, and people can try it on; book it in advance, and we’ll make sure it’s ready for you.” The garments — donated or sold from wholesalers — will be sold after “four or five rentals,” meaning the stock will stay fresh and modern. “Our stock will only be rented four or five times and then it will be sold on through various channels . . . which is another way for us to make a profit to help women,” Mr Prowse said. “We’ve got almost 2000 items with 200 (dresses) or so changing every month.” Mr Prowse said all profits would go to a “number of different services” to help vulnerable women find emergency accommodation, buy food and access outreach programs. “(The services) are predominantly in the emergency relief space, helping women escape domestic violence . . . to help them into short-term housing,” he said. “We will help advocate for them to get them into more permanent housing and find various financial counselling services. “The funds will go towards supporting women, mainly when attracting funds is extremely difficult. “I can see us getting a lot of supporters down the track that want to donate stock to us, knowing that it’s going to support women.” Mr Prowse says Luxe Designer Fashion Hire is just “step one” in his mammoth project to help Aussie women. “Luxe Designer Fashion Hire is a destination, so it’s not like we’re going to run one of these out all over the place,” he said. “Watch this space . . . our results in the next six to 12 months will probably tell us where we go next, but we are never going to move away from the end result being supporting women across WA.”