As Michigan residents, individuals have varied clothing needs for each season. With this constant changing of clothing style to fit the temperature, what happens to the out of season clothing items? Chris Creger, a Grand Valley State University alumnus, thinks he may have solved this problem.

Creger invented RentThreads, an online clothing retail shop with a social networking twist. According to Creger, RentThreads will provide shoppers with three options: buy new clothes, buy gently used clothes or rent new clothes.

“RentThreads will focus on what I call ‘short-term clothing’: clothing that people buy for temporary occasions,” Creger said. “Think of how much money you spend on clothes before going on vacation. Think of how much you spend on ski gear for the winter. Think of how much money you waste on clothes that you only wear for short periods of time. It’s an inefficient use of your money, and RentThreads was created to help people be more efficient when it comes to shopping for clothes.”

The money that would be wasted on clothes to cater to a certain situation could be going to more important things such as personal health, family needs or educational based necessities, Creger said.

“I think there’s a smarter way to spend your money,” Creger said. “RentThreads will pose as an efficient way of shopping for seasonal clothing. You’ll be able to rent the clothes for however long you need them and spend substantially less than buying them outright.”

The idea came to Creger when he realized that, personally, he was not effectively shopping for his clothes. He attributes this to societal pressures to continuously buy new, no matter how long things are needed.

“The renting concept has three benefits to the shopper,” Creger said. “It allows the customer to try it before they buy it, it allows the customer to substantially save money on short-term clothes that they would otherwise store in their closets for more months than they’d actually wear the clothing and, lastly, it allows the customer to stay current on fashion trends without emptying their wallets.”

Customers who are looking to buy long-term pieces but cannot afford top quality brands at their initial retail price will be able to use RentThreads to purchase any rented clothing at a discounted price.

Additionally, there is a social networking aspect of RentThreads.com that will provide users with a unique shopping experience. Users will be able to follow profiles of top buyers and renters, claim certain articles of clothing for themselves before the clothing is released to the public and share closets with other users.

“Some key attributes to this social networking idea is that it will allow users to see what fashion is trending, to see what others think of their clothing choices and to discover new clothing that they would have not otherwise been exposed to,” Creger said. “My goal is to bring the shopping experience that you get while shopping with friends at the mall to your laptop and phone.”

Creger’s ultimate goal is to save people money and increase their shopping confidence. Creger has launched a Kickstarter campaign to help bring his idea alive.

“The campaign’s initiative is to help me create a website and place initial orders with top clothing companies such as Nike, The North Face and Spyder,” Creger said. “For those who don’t know how Kickstarter works, it’s strictly donation based. It’s also important to know that any donations will only transfer to me if I reach my monetary goal of $50,000.”

Creger is also launching a second campaign for RentThreads’ sister site, Pregaroo.com. Pregaroo will encompass the same concept as RentThreads but will focus strictly on maternity clothes.

GVSU students can use this site for personal use throughout the school year. With money being something hard to come by for the average college student, this is another way for students to save money while maintaining wanted goods.

To get involved, visit Kickstarter.com and search for RentThreads or Pregaroo. Individuals can also visit RentThreads.com and click on the Kickstarter page for more information. Any questions or inquiries can be directed to Creger at [email protected].

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