Airbnb and fashion app By Rotation partner to provide free destination wedding outfits

Esthita Kabra always knew she wanted to work with Airbnb. When she first came up with the idea for her fashion-sharing platform By Rotation a few years ago, she looked to other gig economy companies like Airbnb for inspiration.

In 2019, she launched By Rotation, transforming it from a side hustle into a full-fledged fashion rental service. It now has more than half a million users, including Dame Helem Mirren, Ellie Goulding and Lady Amelia Windsor, a member of the British royal family. It has raised $3.5 million in funding from backers including Bessemer Ventures and Cornerstone VC, although Kabra has been cautious about her capitalization. She and her team own more than 70% of the company.

It’s no surprise then that By Rotation has partnered with Airbnb to allow Airbnb bookers to receive a free outfit rental from By Rotation. The partnership will initially be aimed at people traveling to destination weddings. For a limited time and for those traveling to specific locations, By Rotation will allow someone to rent an outfit suitable for a wedding.

“I definitely had a moment where I felt like I had to pinch myself when we signed the partnership agreement,” Kabra said.

People in the US and UK are increasingly stressed about the financial costs of attending these weddings, but many are afraid to tell their friends. The phenomenon has become so common that New York Magazine Cutting dedicated a series of stories to the anxiety, disruption, and sometimes joy of being a wedding guest. By Rotation’s partnership with Airbnb is currently only available to UK customers, but the company hopes to expand its offering to US customers soon.

The partnership runs from August to December. Airbnb Rotation has created a list of rentals that qualify for the top 10 global wedding destinations, including Italy, North America, and Greece.

Users can visit Airbnb wedding wardrobe to apply for a By Rotation voucher that will give them a free rental. “By Rotation’s vision is to go global,” Kabra said. “So this is really just scratching the surface by increasing our brand awareness and presence outside of the UK and the US.”

Kabra says Airbnb actually approached her about a possible partnership, pitching the concept with summer vacations in mind. Then the two landed on destination weddings and got to work making it happen.

By Rotation has grown a lot since TechCrunch last spoke with Kabra in 2022. It’s launched partnerships with Bumble and Net-a-Porter in the U.S. market and has expanded its offerings to include more than just clothing, like luggage and furniture. He says the company has spent almost nothing on customer acquisition this year, yet has seen revenue grow by 250%. The app has more than 1 million downloads and 150,000 designer listings worth $60 million—some customers earn $140,000 renting on the platform.

The app also allows users to rent properties in a specific location, making it easier to rent last-minute. Of course, the app has an AI-powered search function that speeds up the search.

“The community-based platform is now growing completely organically and scalably, ahead of new market expansion,” Kabra said. “In the face of the difficult funding market we have experienced, my team and I have become the masters of our own destiny, executing and operating with diligence, while developing and constantly innovating our community-based marketplace.”

Airbnb is just the latest sign of her company’s success amid consumers’ appetite to support a cleaner environment. In fact, the partnership is “the first of its kind” in the sharing economy space, Kabra said. Fashion is the world’s second-most polluting industry, with up to 85% of U.S. textiles ending up in landfills, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. There’s been a greater push in fashion — and by extension, tech — to address these issues by offering consumers a more sustainable way to shop. One such way is through renting and sharing clothes.

The sharing economy, sometimes called the circular economy when referring to consumer goods that tend to generate waste, is huge. It has the potential to be worth more than $380 billion, according to Allied Market Research. So Kara sees such partnerships as a way to encourage consumers to try new ways of shopping. “Circular is the way forward,” Kabra said.