Local Launches ‘Borrowing Boutique’ for Kids’ Clothes

Joelle Wasserman’s big idea arrived while she was packing a box.

A customer experience consultant for startups and tech companies, Wasserman was boxing up her latest rental bag from Nuuly, a clothing rental service, when it struck her. Months of targeted social media ads had been showing her adorable children’s clothes she had no intention of buying.

She recalled, “The idea hit me mid-pack, boxing up my latest Nuuly bag. I’d been getting tortured by the algorithm for months, served the cutest kids’ clothes I’d never buy because $60 for a pair of toddler pants he’ll outgrow in eight weeks is insane. And it just hit me, why does this not exist for kids?”

About six months ago, she launched Huelings to answer that question: a clothing rental subscription that helps parents dress their kids in stylish outfits without buying for every growth spurt.

A mom with an itch to build, Wasserman grew up in South Florida but has called Atlanta home for almost a decade. She lives with her husband, their two young sons, ages 3 and 1, and their dog, Kugle. She holds a Master of Science in Management from the University of Florida.

With a full house and a head full of ideas, she wanted something “fully, completely mine.” After a few conversations and brainstorming sessions, mostly with her own thoughts, Huelings was born. She describes it as “a clothing rental subscription for kids, Rent the Runway, but built for the colorful, mismatched, gender-neutral, kind of chaotic vibe that little kids actually live in. There is no occasion wear and no separate boys’ and girls’ sections. The focus is everyday clothes for the farmers market, a birthday party, a family trip or ‘a random Tuesday.’ The pieces come from small-batch brands in the United States and Australia, with more from the United Kingdom and New Zealand on the way. All of it is designed to mix and match. We say, ‘everything goes with everything’ … her shorthand for the concept: a borrowing boutique.”

Customers pay a recurring monthly fee or an annual fee and choose a plan of four, six or 10 items. Pricing is $49 a month for four items, $79 for six, and $129 for 10, with shipping included. Members can keep the clothes as long as they keep paying. Most send items back for new ones within four to six weeks, though Wasserman said, “a few customers have had them for almost six months!” Parents who fall for a piece can also buy it at a percentage off retail.

The business has 25 subscribers, new pieces arrive in the closet monthly, and the website Wasserman built herself. “A homemade website that still impresses me every time the automations or inventory updates work. It’s going better than I let myself hope for. But the best part has been hearing from parents about how much fun they’re having picking out clothes with their kids.”

Among the most-rented items are Milk Crew’s Space Cowboy T-shirt and The August People’s Banana Bread T-shirt, but Wasserman said demand shifts. “There’s no one runaway favorite so much as a rotating cast depending on the season and who’s discovering what that week.”

She sees repeat rentals as proof of concept. “Almost every piece in the closet has been rented more than once already, which is exactly what you want, it means the model works and the clothes are actually good, not just good in a photo.”

For now, Huelings remains a one-woman show, which Wasserman embraces. “This is still very much a scrappy, one-woman operation, and I think that’s part of the charm right now. The bones are there for something bigger: more brands, more sizes, occasion wear or outdoor, eventually international shipping.”

For more information, please email joelle@huelings.com, or visit huelings.com; @huelings on Instagram; and search Huelings on Facebook.