Clothing rental firm Style Theory shutters after 9 yrs due to rising costs & investor pullout

Style Theory rented out designer clothes for a flat fee of S$89 a month

Style Theory, a Singapore-based clothes rental platform, has shut down, citing rising operating costs and the withdrawal of “key” investors.

The company terminated all its services, including membership, support, rental, and delivery within Singapore as of Sept 30, following the closure of its Indonesia business in June.

In addition, active subscribers of the platform will not receive refunds for unused portions of their membership plans. Customers with rented apparel were instructed to keep the items “until further notice”, the rental platform said.

Those holding on to rented bags were asked to return them, as they are either company-owned or consigned by individual owners and hence subject to ownership and consignment agreements.

Consignors of apparel who have pending payouts will not receive them directly. Instead, they can file a claim with the proposed liquidators at an upcoming creditors’ meeting, who will be named during the meeting.

“As the company will be placed into liquidation, we are not able to issue payouts directly,” the company said on its website.

Founded in 2016 by a couple, Raena Lim and Chris Halim, Style Theory rented out clothing and fashion accessories through its app, offering customers access to over 60,000 designer styles for as low as S$89 per month.

Second Edit, a luxury bag and women’s wear platform under Style Theory, has also closed shop.

Style Theory was backed by various investors including Alpha JWC Ventures, Quest Ventures, The Paradise Group, and SoftBank Ventures Asia. Its last fundraising was in 2019, when it secured US$15 million in a Series B round.