A woman looks at clothes at the Rent The Runway store, an online subscription service for women to rent designer dress and accessory items, in New York City, September 12, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Is it better to follow the trend or set it? When it comes to fashion company stocks, the latter seems to be the recent truism. Rent the Runway, an online clothing rental company, is interviewing banks for an initial public offering, according to Bloomberg. That’s as consumers and investors are embracing eco-conscious shopping companies given the recent success of Stitch Fix (SFIX.O), a subscription-based styling service, and ThredUp (TDUP.O) an online resale shop.

Shares of Stitch Fix have more than doubled in the past year while Lululemon Athletica (LULU.O), best known for making yoga pants, is down slightly. ThredUp has increased almost a fifth since it listed shares in early March, strongly outperforming Lululemon. That’s despite that Lululemon is expected to report on Thursday a more than 70% increase in first-quarter sales year-over-year, according to Refinitiv.

The athleisure wear company’s work-from-home benefits may be subsiding. But it also shows why fashion stock fads, like clothing ones, are fleeting. (By Jennifer Saba)

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