New York City women are making up to $30,000 per month by renting out their closets to strangers

Pickle’s rise

Pickle, a peer-to-peer luxury clothing rental service founded in 2021 by Brian McMahon and Julia O’Mara, offers its predominantly Gen Z and millennial customers access to luxury clothing and accessories at a fraction of the purchasing cost. Last month, a Pickle user even earned $30,000 on the app, says McMahon.

The playful name nods to the phrase “in a pickle,” a wink at last-minute wardrobe emergencies. As cofounder and COO Julia O’Mara put it to Fortune, if you suddenly find yourself “in a pickle” and need an outfit fast, you can borrow one from a neighbor in your community or have it delivered via two-day express shipping anywhere in the country.

“The way we describe the business is a rental and retail place, kind of like an Airbnb, but for things that you own,” McMahon tells Fortune.

Need a statement piece for a beach vacation? Rent a Miu Miu straw cowboy hat, which retails for $825, for only $50. For a trip overseas, consider a floral “Euro Summer” Zimmerman dress which normally sells for over $1,200, but can be rented on Pickle for $230 instead.

Launched in New York City as a hyperlocal marketplace, Pickle has expanded to all 50 states, with most users concentrated in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Boston.

“People are really using it everywhere, and a lot of these up-and-coming cities start with this shipping method, where they’re getting a taste of borrowing from someone else’s closet,” O’Mara says. “They then convert as a lender as well, open up their closet, and it helps kickstart that initial community there too.”

Pickle appeals to cash-strapped Gen Z

The app targets youngerconsumers interested in online fashion trends, but who may not be able to afford the steep price tags of luxury goods. Gen Z’s spending power is rising, and the cohort is projected to make up 40% of U.S. fashion consumers in the next ten years, according to Boston Consulting Group. At the same time, demand for luxury goods continues to climb, with global revenue expected to reach $700 billion by the end of the decade, according to a recent report from McKinsey & Company. The U.S. remains the world’s largest market by sales.

On the other hand, Gen Z is struggling with access to discretionary spending. Pickle offers users a quick, last-minute, and affordable rental option for access to social media’s most coveted pieces.

“These generations are often valuing access over ownership, where there’s a lot of value in being able to try out a new trend or a new style or participate in a micro trend without consuming and adding something new to your closet that you’re going to get forever,” O’Mara says. “It’s something that you’re able to wear one time, guilt free, return it to that next person, and try out.”

Pickle is a newer entrant to the growing resale market, and faces stiff competition from Rent the Runway, Nuuly,and The RealReal. But Pickle is betting on its peer-to-peer lending approach. Fortune’s Emma Hinchliffe was first to report Pickle had raised $12 million in Series A funding in March 2025, backed by FirstMark, Craft Ventures, Burst Capital, and FJ Labs. The company says its current funding sits at $20 million total in capital as of July 2026.

“We’re seeing and hearing from users, especially Gen Z, that Pickle is becoming a gateway into luxury,” cofounder and CEO Brian McMahon told Fortune. “Renting on Pickle lets them experience a designer across different moments and get a feel for the fit, quality, and value before potentially deciding to buy in the primary market.”

Pickle’s inception

McMahon and O’Mara met while working at investment giant Blackstone, and initially launched the platform as a social polling app focused on shopping. But when they saw users in the comments recommending clothing items to each other from their own closets, they realized there was a real opportunity for peer-to-peer rentals, and pivoted.

Within only a week, Pickle evolved into a full-fledged marketplace. McMahon spent the early stages coding and engineering the platform while O’Mara led marketing and outreach. For the first two years, they were Pickle’s only employees, juggling everything from troubleshooting bugs in the app to hand-delivering rentals across New York City by public transit, a literal example of how many hats they wore in the beginning. The founders tell Fortune they took the subway more than 4,000 times to and from sales before hiring employees.

“The whole experience kind of feels like DoorDash, but for clothes,” McMahon says. “We ran around the city for the first eight or so months doing all the deliveries so we could talk to all the customers and learn all the feedback, and then go home and implement everything.”

Initially, the entrepreneurs sought out up-and-coming New York fashion influencers to help promote the brand. They scheduled photoshoots in the Soho neighborhood, and enlisted student photographers from the nearby Fashion Institute of Technology to showcase their inventory, according to O’Mara.

The photos rolled out across social media to attract new users, but the cofounders say their best marketing tool is old-fashioned word of mouth.

“The ultimate way that we grow is really just by getting what we call ‘clothes on bodies,’ so when people rent an item from Pickle or buy an item from Pickle, they are typically going out and wearing it somewhere social,” McMahon says. “Someone will say, ‘Hey, I love that outfit. Where’d you get it?’ And they’ll explain, ‘I got it on Pickle,’ and that’s the highest impression you can get.”

Pickle has recently partnered with New York social media influencers including Halley Kate, who shares listings to her over 2 million followers across Instagram and TikTok. When Pickle opened its doors with a new brick-and-mortar in the West Village in 2023, it enlisted the help of Kit Keenan to attract new customers.

A community of Picklers

The app has a growing stronghold in Manhattan, with 25% of women aged 18 to 35 using the app, according to Pickle. Many lenders turn to the platform as a side hustle.

“We, of course, get really excited as people see a lot of traction and really do start to lean on this as a great source of income,” McMahon tells Fortune.

Martyna Wiacek, an advertising employee at Pinterest, first heard of Pickle through a friend. Her storefront specializes in wedding gowns and guest attire, and now earns between $2,000 to $3,000 every month.

“After renting out one or two times, you kind of get hooked,” Wiacek tells Fortune. “I started thinking, ‘What else can I add that I have to my Pickle closet?’”

Wiacek likens the experience to lending clothes to a friend, and says she’s been able to build a community with repeat local customers.

“Going through all these milestones together has been a cute bonding experience,” Wiacek says, adding that sales often fluctuate across seasons. “People always like the idea of renting something they’re only going to wear once.”

Pickle has been on the rise in several cities nationwide—and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. The company says more than half of active users this year have rented out at least one item per week, according to Pickle.

McMahon told Fortune in his final thoughts: “Gen Z’s appetite for luxury is strong, and Pickle is shaping how they discover it, access it, and decide what is worth owning.”