La Reina Exchange: Normalising Rental Culture in Cairo with A Look for Every Occasion
Unspoken Rule #1: Wear it once, take a million photos that accurately record your outfit, post on every social media app on your phone, and instantly it becomes a disposable garment.
LRX photographed on location in New York by Akram Soliman
We all know the ultimate dress code dilemma for females is being seen in the same outfit, or worst of all in the same dress, recurrently. Specifically, in Cairo, where wedding and engagements happen on a weekly basis, running out of things to wear is inevitable.
La Reina Exchange, is an online platform for renting out evening wear, which originated with La Reina Gowns, an online wedding gown rental platform launched a year ago, which allows you to rent out, essentially borrow, or sell your previously loved dresses. Giving you the option to share your dresses with them and monetise on the valuable purchase you made, and only probably wore once. Founded by Ghada El Tanawy along with partner Amr Diab, this brand taps into a clear market gap.
The catch. All dresses and outfits rented out by La Reina Exchange are original designer pieces created by both local and global household names such as Zuhair Murad, Dior, YSL, Imaan Saab, Temraza to name a few.
LRX photographed on location in New York by Akram Soliman.
LRX is also collaborating with designers such as Amany El Cherif, Mohanad Kojak, Nehal Khalifa, Enas Komsan, and more to come, to allow for never before worn gowns and dresses to also be available for rental.
The rental prices vary depending on the designer, time period and whether or not the dress will be a "first time wear". As a luxury option, LRX offers a full package service allowing for your hair and make up to be done by Rabie Mrad and Ohoud Al Tuwaijri completely the look.
If you're living in Cairo you can have a couple of options sent to you, try them on, pick one and return the rest; otherwise visit their store location to try on as many looks as you want before deciding. Seems ideal to me.
LRX photographed on location in New York by Akram Soliman.
La Reina Exchange aim to help girls in our society overcome the stigma around renting out evening wear. There is an irrational fear in our culture of being thought unable to purchase an item with a hefty price tag, but the truth of the matter is why invest that much money in something that will only ever be worn once. Think about it ... we borrow dresses from our mothers, sisters, girlfriends, and when all that runs out and there's nothing to buy in local stores because prices are bizarre, wouldn't it be great if you could just rent out the perfect outfit for a night?
So with the launch of LRX instead of having access to a grand total of 10 evening wear looks, you can now have access to hundreds. Enjoy!
Ps. To get in contact their website, Facebook page, and Instagram page are linked throughout the article.
The Fashion Pirate dressed in a Temraza blazer, photographed by LeMosen, make up by Aisha Taha, and coordinated by Maison Pyramide.
“You can have anything you want in life if you dress for it.”
