SYDNEY (Reuters Life) — Recession-hit fashionistas wanting to look a million dollars without paying so much are keeping up appearances and fuelling a new industry in Australia; online fashion rentals.

Struggling with redundancy or lower salaries, many Australian women are following in the designer footsteps of their American peers and resorting to renting designer clothes and accessories from online websites or buying them second-hand.

“We have experienced a huge growth particularly in the last three months. It seems like the downturn has done wonders for business,’’ said Simonne Santana, founder of Love Me and Leave Me (www.lovemeandleaveme.com), the first and one of the biggest fashion-borrowing websites in Australia.

“We’ve experienced record membership intakes and rental intakes. It’s obviously a trend that people have warmed to,’’ she said, adding the site now has 5,000 members who can also buy used, or new, designer wear at a discount.