There's now a savvy way to make money from all those unworn dresses in your wardrobe.

The rise of the dress rental industry has exploded in Australia over the last year or two.

Allowing consumers to don a beautiful dress without the fear of outfit repeating or unnecessary financial commitment, it’s the budget friendly way to feeling like you own a celebrity wardrobe.

The Volte is one such local site with a difference.

“Dress rental is exploding globally but The Volte takes it one step further, also letting you list your own items to rent and get income from them,” explains one of the site’s four founders, Bernadette Olivier.

“It’s exciting and taps into the sharing economy, allowing people to make money from the assets they already own. It also enables people to see designer items as an asset worth investing in and able to earn an income off.”

• One of our favourites by #selfportrait ✌️Available in Size 6, 8, 10, 12 / Book now @thevolte ❤️ #rentnow #thevolte #airbnboffashion #happyhumpday

A post shared by The Volte (@thevolte) on Jul 25, 2017 at 10:15pm PDT

You can filter by size, colour and style and choose your length of rental if you’re borrowing. It’s free to list an item to rent out and you can select your method of delivery and returns and any dry cleaning requirements.

The idea was born a few years ago after Olivier had just had her first baby and faced back to back weddings. Living on a single income and not her normal size, she didn’t want to buy a whole rack of dresses she’d only wear once.

“I wanted to rent but thought ‘Wouldn’t it be great to make money from all the dresses sitting in my wardrobe that have only been worn once but don’t want to sell?’,” she says.

Listen: The surprising fact about Kate Middleton’s wardrobe. Post continues after audio.

Having children delayed the idea for a little while, until Olivier told it to her sister and fellow founder, Kym Atkins, who thought it was such a great idea the group had to bring it to life.

Officially launched in January this year, the growth has already been exciting with numbers growing exponentially.

And while the rental dress service is already popular with millennials, Olivier says they’re seeing more diversity in their customers thanks to their vast range of stock, sizes and price points users signed up to the platform are offering.

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“We do have the younger ones hiring popular designers like Zimmerman but we’re actually seeing women in their thirties and forties getting into it,” she says.

While the initial launched focused on the main cities, the user-driven nature of The Volte means that clients are all over Australia, with a huge amount of rural users who often don’t have access to existing rental dress services.

“At the moment we’re going into racing season in the rural areas so we’ve seen a huge amount of people renting fascinators and dresses. They’re such big community events in those country towns and they want to be able to access these services as well,” says Olivier.

"We thought some of the dress rental businesses weren't accessible in certain locations and sizes and we really want The Volte to cater for everyone. Not everyone is a size six supermodel."

A lawyer by trade, Olivier says that the start up has made her realise that renting a dress can be a much more emotional process than you might think.

"Our clients are excited about their event or first date so both the renter and the owner want to make sure that it looks good and offering trying on services. That's been a lovely side to see how kind they are and sending photos back and forth," she says.

"There's a real community side, with people sharing advice of which accessories to wear with it or throwing in an extra dress to try - it's just so lovely."

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While there are all happy stories now, the team ensured that there were procedures in place to protect both lenders and renters.

There's a secure payment gateway that stores all buyers details and ID to verify all lenders. Lenders can list a bond and the site has an Australian customer service team who Olivier says really rise to occasion if a dress "emergency" arises.

"We don't have a warehouse so we can get dresses to anywhere in Australia quickly. We've never had any incidents  and we make sure everyone has peace of mind when using the site."

As well as savvy saving, The Volte also promotes sustainability in fashion.

"In Australia we throw away 500 tonnes of textiles each year, so The Volte can increase the shelf life of designer items and make people think twice about buying disposable items," Olivier explains.

"Why would you buy a copy rather than a well made when you can invest in an authentic piece and make it into an asset?"

Men are getting in on the action too.

• The perfect day for @polointhevalley ???? At least the jacket fits like a glove @camcranley! ???? Rent the look minus the vest ???? @thevolte Size L | $130 incl. dry cleaning {a range of sizes available} #voltesquad #thevolte

A post shared by The Volte (@thevolte) on Apr 2, 2017 at 4:15am PDT

"It was in the back of our minds at first but we were getting lots of requests [to do menswear]. It gets a huge amount of traction," she says.

"Lots of men don't wear suits to work anymore so if you've got a function it's easier to rent and the platform makes the work easy for them! Lots of professional sportsmen do it."

At first the site was tipped more towards renting out but Olivier says they've now seen a shift to an equal balance.

"Lots of people doing both with a lot of lenders are also borrowers, borrowing off each other which is really lovely and building on the community feel."