The signal: In the past week, retailers are reporting strong retail sales but one trend is seeing unusually strong demand: fashion resale…

• In May, Rent the Runway, a dress and accessory rental service, saw a 92% increase in active subscribers compared to last May 2020.
• According to Claudia D’Arpizio (via NYT), a partner at Bain & Company, apparel rental and fashion resale could be among retail’s biggest winners.

In some markets, Rent the Runway saw 4.5x more daily new subscribers in May compared to Feb. While Rent the Runway isn’t public, here’s some resale companies that are…

• ThredUP (NASDAQ:TDUP) — up nearly 30% since going public in March.
• Poshmark (NASDAQ:POSH) — fell over 50% since going public in Jan. Read more on Posh.

For investors: Several apparel reselling platforms have gone public in 2021 but returns differed wildly. Some went public at a time when the stock market was at an all-time high.

• With expectations for growth stocks at a low and demand for apparel increasing, it may be time to revisit a couple of these once high-flyers.

Who else? Other luxury e-commerce resellers like Farfetch (NYSE:FTCH) and the RealReal (NASDAQ:REAL)