Katie Zaccardi doesn’t like to wear an outfit twice. So she uses an app to rent clothes.
Zaccardi, a 25-year-old order management analyst who lives in Boston, logs onto Pickle when she needs clothes for weddings, ski trips and vacations. She traveled to Europe and Bali this summer, and said most of the outfits she wore on the trips came from Pickle.
She rented a $1,700 ski suit for $100, a $500 matching shirt and pants set for $50 and a $700 matching set for $65.
“Getting my hands on pieces that I wouldn’t typically want to drop a bunch of money on that are pretty expensive, and instead I can rent them for a reasonable price,” Zaccardi said.
Pickle, a peer-to-peer fashion rental marketplace, launched in 2022 in New York and has spread across the country, including Boston, where it arrived in 2024 and now has 10,000 users.
Katie Zaccardi has used Pickle to rent matching sets and a ski suit. (Courtesy Katie Zaccardi)
Julia O’Mara, the company’s chief operating officer, described Pickle as Airbnb for your closet. The app lets users rent their clothing – women’s fashion and accessories, for now – to people all over the world. The user sets their own prices, with Pickle recommending that each rental should cost 10% to 20% of retail price. Pickle takes a 20% cut.
The door-to-door delivery service offers same-day shipping in the same city or two days nationwide. Renters must agree to return items clean, ready to wear again. Users can post reviews of lenders and products, and renters are rated on their response times and rates.
The app has grown with help from social media. Pickle has a relationship with small content creators or micro influencers based in New York, where the app would host small photo shoots of clothes, O’Mara said.
A screen shot of Karissa McCarthy’s dress listing on the app Pickle, available for other users to rent. (Courtesy Karissa McCarthy)
Karissa McCarthy, 31, associate director of ad operations at STAT, a Boston Globe science news publication, found the app through a fashion influencer she followed who put her closet up for rent on Pickle.
McCarthy mostly lends out her clothes rather than rents others’ and has made over $5,000 renting out her clothes She described Pickle as a side hustle that supports her shopping addiction and money for the weekend.
McCarthy said she loves the interactions with people who use the app. All of her clothes have returned in great condition with zero bad experiences.
“The community of girls is really great,” McCarthy said. “I love when girls leave reviews on my closet.”
Holly Nichols, 25, who works in medical device sales, was looking for a skirt that was sold out everywhere in 2023 when she found it on Pickle. She has been on the app ever since.
She likes to use Pickle when she has to go to events. She also said she “buys an outfit for every occasion” and then will rent the item out on the app and cover the cost of buying it.
“I definitely like to think of using my clothes as an investment,” Nichols said.
Weddings and ski trips are a big expense, especially because the outfits are only worn a couple times a year, which is why some users prefer to rent them.
Ski suits are trending in fashion right now but even the most affordable ones can cost at least $1,000. Pickle users are renting one for $100, O’Mara said.
“You’re not turning to full retail prices, and you’re keeping up with some of these trends and participating in them in a really circular and sustainable way,” O’Mara said.
This story is part of a partnership between WBUR and the Boston University Department of Journalism.
