Before she led a fashion revolution, Jennifer Hyman was a Harvard MBA student with an idea that seemed almost too simple: what if women could rent clothes instead of buying them? That idea became Rent the Runway, one of the most disruptive startups in modern retail—and the company that made history on Nasdaq.
Jennifer’s story is about more than fashion. It’s about access, leadership, and the quiet power of challenging the rules that never made sense in the first place.
From New Rochelle to Harvard Business School
Jennifer Hyman was born in 1980 and raised in New Rochelle, New York. Her father was a sales executive, and her mother worked in marketing. Their household valued education, creativity, and independence.
After graduating from Harvard University in 2002, Jennifer worked in media and tech at companies like WeddingChannel, IMG, and Starwood Hotels. But it wasn’t until she returned to Harvard Business School that she had her breakthrough.
In 2008, her younger sister Becky was frustrated about buying a dress she couldn’t afford for a wedding she’d attend once. That sparked a question: Why do women have to spend hundreds of dollars for a single event?