A 30-year-old Indian woman named Eshita Kabra-Davies is speaking before a rapt audience at the United Nations. She has long amber hair and is wearing an olive green maxi dress, and leans into the microphone with forward-forcing energy, like itās the top frame of a Peloton. Speaking with steely calm, Kabra-Davies touches on the impact of single-use plastic on the Global South, the importance of female-led enterprises to uplift global economies, and the shock of seeing fast fashion landfills mar the dunes of Rajasthan. Near the end of her time at the podium, she stares down the room of CEOs and pundits and says, āItās all great that people do a lot of talk about backing sustainability and women of color, all that stuff. But the reality is, we donāt need training and mentorship; we need money. Itās just cold hard facts. Sorry!ā
But Kabra-Davies isnāt sorry at all. Because, honestly, sheās too busy to be.
After all, sheās the founder of By Rotation, a peer-to-peer rental app positioning itself as āthe Airbnb of fashion.ā Kabra-Davies dreamed up the concept while working as an investment analyst by day and navigating āa zillion of my friendsā weddingsā by night, needing a steady supply of Instagram-worthy dresses while having zero time to shop, and zero desire to contribute to the buy-trash-repeat cycle of some peers. āIām a third culture kid,ā she says. āIām from India; I was raised in Singapore; I went to school in London. Iāve seen on a global scale how fashion can empower women creatively, socially, economicallyā¦but also, it can be so bad
She began her side hustle in 2019, beginning with a small sample of friends and working out the startupās tech kinks as the 2020 pandemic brought in-person gatheringsāand with them, most clothing rental servicesāto a halt. (āWould you like to rent my PJs?ā she jokes when talking about the early days of lockdown style. āTheyāre actually quite cool with heels.ā) Social media and word-of-mouth helped the initial business grow, along with a āspecial sauceā thatās tough to find on any other rental outlet: cool British brands owned by her friends and acquaintances that began picking up steam through celebrity and street style cred.
Early rental hits included pieces from independent label 16Arlingtonāincluding a slinky sequin dress with Tom Ford-era Gucci vibes last seen on Hailey Bieberāplus Kendall Jennerās sculptural sheer gown from Nensi Dojaka. By Rotation is also heavy on IYKYK brands like The Vampireās Wife, Rixo, and Simone Rochaāand takes special care to recruit renters of all sizes and gender identities. In the U.K., the app has been downloaded over half a million times, which means about one in 70 British women have used it at least once. Like Airbnb, a few āpower usersā have made up to $50,000 in a year by renting their #oldceline staples; other women (including the influencer Hannah Strafford-Taylor) have turned āfrequent flierā pieces, like a flirty print set by Spanish designer Celia Bernardo, into a $7k investment.
By Rotation isnāt the only peer-to-peer rental app looking to transform womenās closets into lucrative lending libraries. In the U.S., Dora Maar lets you rent Prada and Proenza Schouler must-haves from vetted āmusesā who often work in the fashion industry or larger creative world. The New York-based boutique rental app Tulerie has a similar hold on coveted designer goods, especially status bags from Louis Vuitton and Bottega Veneta. But besides a deeper bench of buzzy emerging designers and extended sizes, By Rotation has one more ace up the sleeve of its Jacquemus La Maille cardigan: a small but growing contingent of celebrity lenders turning their red carpet castoffs into circular gold.
That includes the usual roster of models and influencers, plus Bridgerton and Derry Girls darling Nicola Coughlan and her stylist AimeĢe Croysdill, who have made her Barbiecore Valentino dress and white Rotate Birger Christensen pieces available for rent, and even Dame Helen Mirren, who says that āteaming up with By Rotation is another way I feel I can do something simple to promote circular fashion!ā (āI met her at a charity event,ā Kabra-Davies explains. āAnd when I explained the concept, she just totally got it.ā)
Those hoping to cash in on their own closets on this side of the pond can sign up for the By Rotation app starting this month, but be prepared to swap more than just clothes. āWe see quite a few By Rotation members who have become friends after doing a few rentals,ā Kabra-Davies says fondly. āIt becomes a real form of bonding when someone loves your dress the same way that you do.ā
Editor at Large, ELLE.com
“Her beauty and her brain go not together.” āWilliam Shakespeare