Is this the way forward for fast fashion?

H&M is trialling renting out clothes to address the environmental issues directly caused by the fashion industry. The Swedish retailer is currently testing out a clothing rental service at its flagship store in Stockholm. The service, which will be trialled for a three month period, allows customers to rent clothes from a collection of 50 pieces for just over €30.00. The Business of Fashion reports that the service has been introduced in a bid to reduce the company's environmental impact. A recent UN report found that the fashion industry has been having detrimental effects on climate change for years, accounting for higher levels of global carbon emissions than all international flights and shipping combined. The industry is also facing harsh criticism for being behind 20 percent of all global wastewater, as well as producing significant amounts of waste through the mass production of cheap garments. "We have a huge belief in rental, but we still want to test and learn quite a lot and do tweaks and changes,” said Daniel Claesson, H&M’s head of business development. The trialled rental service is currently only available for H&M loyalty members in the Stockholm store, however if the test proves successful there could be plans to introduce the service beyond the flagship store.