Dubai: Valentine’s Day is round the corner and you have nothing special to wear? Check out Designer-24, it could just be the place for you.
A unique online designer dress hire service in Dubai, it seeks to meet the growing demand by party regulars to don the latest designs, and more important, look different in every social media freeze frame.
Launched by two women entrepreneurs – Ranya Khalil and Sarah Alem Zadeh – it claims to be the first online service of its kind in the Middle East.
“The idea behind the launch of Designer-24 is to make luxury fashion more accessible. The UAE is so events-driven that there is a constant need to be seen in new dresses. Moreover, social media is so big these days that women don’t want to be seen in the same dress twice. In the West, designers have long lent dresses, mainly to celebs. We wanted to bring the concept to the UAE with a twist in that we wanted to make luxury fashion accessible to all,” said Ranya.
Log on and order
Raised in London, the 28-year-old originally from Lebanon said Sarah, an Iranian from New York, shared the same sentiments, so they decided to come to Dubai to start the service.
Catering to every occasion from cocktails to black tie, Designer-24 offers a hassle-free service. To use it, you need only go its website http://www.designer-24.com and choose from its wide selection of dresses and schedule a delivery. The dress is then delivered free of charge in two sizes to you doorstep. Once used, the Designer-24 team takes the dress back, with the pick-up being free again.
“We do same-day deliveries too but advise a week’s advance notice to avoid disappointment. Many times, the dress you pick may have already been booked by someone else,” said Ranya, adding that people have the option of renting a dress for two, four or eight days.
She said Designer-24 currently stocks over 400 dresses by leading designers. “We are a six-month-old set-up and our effort has been to constantly add new dresses every few weeks. Our labels cover an exclusive range from Alex Perry and Antonio Berardi to Marchesa and Naeem Khan.”
The cost of hiring ranges from Dh300 to Dh5,000. “It depends on the designer, but I can safely say that renting 10 dresses is equivalent to buying one,” said Ranya.
While Designer-24 does not accept deposits, a mandatory insurance of five per cent of the rental value covers minor stains and damage.
Similarly, if the dress is returned late, five per cent of the retail value of the dress is charged for each day, with a total penalty of twice the retail value of the dress being due for any dress not returned after 20 calendar days.
Designer-24 currently caters only to women in the UAE. “But with time, we will be expanding within the region,” added Ranya.
