Rent the Runway’s Jennifer Fleiss: From finance to fashion

Your favorite celebrity was just spotted in a gorgeous dress. You’d love to have it for an upcoming event. But it costs too much… and it might even bankrupt you.

But there is a solution.

When the sharing economy meets fashion you get Rent the Runway.

Five years ago, Rent the Runway launched to democratize luxury, giving women a cost-effective way to refresh their wardrobes. Whether it’s for a wedding or a work meeting, women can now access thousands of designer dresses and accessories — 70,000 dresses and 15,000 accessories to be more exact — at a fraction of the retail cost.

Ranked No. 38 on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list in 2014, Rent the Runway has been dubbed the “Netflix of designer clothes.” With nearly 500 employees and 5 million members, the firm has raised $126 million from VCs Kleiner Perkins, Highland Capital and Bain Capital Ventures (some of the investment community’s biggest names). The company’s closest competitor is considered Bag Borrow or Steal, which rents accessories and handbags, but also has customers who sell their items and there’s also an option for consumers to purchase.

Jennifer Fleiss, 32, co-founded the company with Jennifer Heyman, a classmate from Harvard business school, after working at Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers. Heyman is now Rent The Runway’s chief executive and Fleiss is the head of special projects.

Fleiss opened up about the challenges and strategies to get the business funded, creating a work-friendly environment, and how she manages with a toddler in tow.

Q: What is Rent the R