How Pickle’s peer-to-peer business model is disrupting the fashion rental market

The fashion rental market has exploded in the US in recent years. According to Stratum Insights, the industry is expected to reach $2.5 billion in value by 2028. While you’ve probably heard of Rent the Runway (launched in 2009, with a high-profile IPO in 2021) and Nuuly (a more recent competitor from Urban Outfitters, which launched in 2019), there’s a newer player on the scene making a name for itself by disrupting the traditional rental business model.

Pickle was founded in 2022 by CEO Brian McMahon and COO Julia O’Mara—two former Blackstone employees. It holds no inventory of its own, simply facilitating rentals between lenders and renters. The company coordinates shipping and delivery, takes a 20% transaction fee, and helps lenders determine pricing based on retail value and demand. Pickle says it experienced 85% organic growth last year.

The business began as a “social polling” platform (basically, tell me if this outfit looks good or not) before realizing there was potential for something more. “What we noticed is that in a lot of the comments of the polls, people were recommending stuff that they already owned and that’s when we thought, ‘Hey, what if we just let people rent, lend, borrow and buy from each other?’” McMahon said.

Unlike competitors like Nuuly, Pickle doesn’t require a subscription fee.

“The way we describe it is Pickle is a rental or a resale marketplace, kind of like an Airbnb, but for things that you own,” McMahon said.

Unlocking revenue

Making passive income from clothes that might otherwise be eaten by moths in your closet is a growing trend. Pickle said its top lenders made an average of $5,744 a month in 2025 from listing their items.

After launching in New York City, the company has since expanded to all 50 states and has seen booms in other large cities: In Miami, rentals have increased 13 times YoY with a 384% increase in locals using Pickle. In Boston, rentals are up 582% YoY with listings increasing by 78%.

“We went to LA and Miami because people started renting items from New York and shipping them out to LA. All of a sudden there was an aggregation of closets there—same in Miami—and you started to see that density organically happen,” O’Mara said.

Last March, Pickle raised $12 million in a Series A, which it used to grow its team.

“A lot of raised capital oftentimes goes towards growth,” McMahon said. “For us, it’s not as much the case just due to the organic nature in which we grow. Our biggest growth strategy, we call it ‘getting clothes on bodies.’ What that means is when you rent something and you go to a wedding, you’re looking good, you’re feeling confident, and someone comes up and compliments you. They say, ‘I love that dress. Where’d you get it?’ You tell them you got it on Pickle.”

On-demand marketplace

Pickle’s goal for 2026 is to focus on “the demand side of the marketplace,” according to McMahon, who said that while Pickle mostly focuses on apparel and accessories, it doesn’t have restrictions on its listings. The CEO said the second most popular item listed last year was a high-definition Canon camera, and that the Dyson Airwrap hair styling tool is also an in-demand product.

Discussing broader industry trends, digital marketing consultant Greg Zakowicz says “subscription fatigue is a real thing.” Still, Zakowicz suggests Pickle’s model is an alternative where you get the “best of both worlds,” allowing people to “refresh” their wardrobes without the cost, and that its more noncommittal business structure (no inventory, no subscriptions) is optimal from a sustainability perspective.

“The less you can make people commit to something, the better off you are to sustain,” he said. “To me it’s not a dichotomy, but it’s a complementary thing. I don’t have to commit to it. I’ve got the option there for it. But, people love buying. They love shopping. They love new things. Fashion is probably the place where this is going to succeed the most because fashion trends change so quickly.”