Through its curated Instagram page, Lil's Rentals looks like a label born within the glass walls of a studio in Melbourne’s CBD.
Every post — from the elegant women draped in beautiful clothes to the subtle art of colour grading — is intentional, designed to create the very fabric of the brand.
In reality, its founder Lily Prior is sitting behind a small laptop on a rundown couch in her share-house, making this world come to life.
As a country-born 21-year-old, Prior has striven to build Lil's Rentals into a hot choice in the world of fashion hire.
In a year and a half, her initial collection of a few basic dresses has grown into a business thriving off Instagram's reach.
Her customers include the everyday university student, TikTok influencers and even faces we’ve seen on our TV screens.
At its core, fashion hire is simple: you choose, you pay, you borrow, you wear, you return. Businesses lend out clothing of a kind usually too expensive to justify buying — for a fraction of the price. Think once-off black-tie nights, birthday parties or wedding guest outfits.
Yet Prior believes she saw something others had missed.
“I found a gap in the market for really cool unique dresses that not everyone has,” she says.
With that thought in her mind, she began creating a brand aiming to be known for its chic, distinctive dresses.
She started small with a single click in July 2024.
“I launched Lil's Rentals with 200 followers on Instagram and now, a year later and a half later, I have over 3,500 followers,” Prior says.
Growing through posts, shares and likes, her business has dressed everyone from beauty influencer Stella Klim, who has 24,000 followers, to Love Island alum and influencer Xanthe Wessen.
“I feel like social media and your social presence online is super important as that’s how people discover you,” she says.
And discover it they did. In under 18 months, her page has grown by more than 1,500 per cent. For context, some say the average small Instagram business might grow by 15 to 30 per cent a year.
But at the core of this small business lies a balancing act perhaps unnoticed by followers.
“I have really struggled this year with work, uni, Lil’s Rentals and social life balance,” she says. “I struggle to fully put time into my small business.”
As is the known path for many in their 20s, Lily’s life is a juggle of ambition and rent payments.
After moving from her hometown of Shepparton to Melbourne to study business at Deakin University, she now shares a house with two friends.
Between lectures, a part-time job and the never-ending cycle of bookings and content creation for Lil's Rentals, she also tries to juggle being a social 21-year-old in the city for the first time.
Keeping on top of nights out, dates with her boyfriend and coffees with friends is not easy when carrying the weight of your own brand, she says.
“You really have to rely on yourself and just back yourself."
That confidence didn’t build overnight but rather through “sticking with my vision, passion and ideas and committing to them”.
Starting a business today can be as simple as clicking the 'create Instagram page' button. But without persistence behind each decision, many fade as quickly as they appear.
“People can’t take passion away from people,” Prior says, and it’s clear her's runs deep.
For behind every post, comment and packed parcel is the founder herself —and the beating heart of Lil's Rentals.
