Pickle app powers peer-to-peer Miami fashion rentals store

Miami hosts Instagrammable events like the Miami Open, Formula 1, Swim Week, Art Basel and parties around the clock — it’s Spring Break season, don’t you know? Miami is also not cheap when dressing to impress.

So what do you for that yacht outing, holiday party, or wedding invitation? You need the best outfit for one-time wear but that custom ball gown wedding dress you eyed has a retail tag of $7,500?

What’s Pickle for? A look inside of the Pickle store in New York City’s West Village. A Miami pop-up Pickle opens March 21, 2026, in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood until May 31. Pickle

In Miami, it may have gotten easier. Women can rent from more than 375,000 outfits off a trendy new app named Pickle or pop into a limited-time Pickle pop-up store in Wynwood that’s opening this weekend.

Rent that $7K wedding gown on Pickle for a week for $900. Too elegant? Too much? How about $500 to rent a $1,500 wedding dress with train.

Or, heck, it’s a Swim Week party. The models are going to be clad in stylish bathing suits. Hit the rent tab on a Black and Pink Flower Maxi Dress for $20 for the opening night kick-off event or the fashion shows at the Mondrian South Beach and elsewhere. That’s a savings of $80 for something you only need for that soirée or shows.

According to Fortune, 1 in 5 Miami women age 18-35 use Pickle, a viral peer-to-peer fashion rental marketplace often described as “Airbnb for closets”.

Pickle was founded as a social polling app in 2021 by Julia O’Mara and Brian McMahon. In 2022, it morphed into its current fashion rental marketplace. Pickle built on its digital success by opening its first brick-and-mortar storefront in New York City’s West Village in December 2023.

Pickle in Miami

Miami’s getting the country’s second retail location as a pop-up store in Wynwood at 319 NW 25th St. That store opens Saturday, March 21, and runs through May 31.

Pickle has seen demand in Miami surge over the past year. Local users are up 431% year over year, rentals have grown 284%, and items listed by Miami closets have increased 545%, according to the New York City-based company.

In 2024, the Pickle app had 1,900 items listed for rent in Miami. Since then, 12,000 additional items were listed from Miami closets, said Pickle’s PR spokeswoman Christine Heerwagen in an email to the Miami Herald.

A local creative’s success story Lane Creatore, 31, a top Miami lender on the peer-to-peer fashion app Pickle plans to rent some of her outfits via a temporary Pickle pop-up store opening in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood from March 21 to May 31, 2026. ‘I love that these pieces now have a life beyond my closet and get worn and enjoyed by women all across the city,’ she said. Courtesy of Lane Creatore

“I realized I had dozens of dresses in my closet that I’d worn once or twice and then never touched again,” said Lane Creatore, 31, a top Miami lender on Pickle. “A lot of them are special-occasion pieces — wedding guest gowns, going-out dresses, statement looks people want to rent for a big event but don’t necessarily want to pay full price for.”

Sure, Miami’s had some recent cold snaps that dropped temperatures into the 30s in February and recent downpours made for a dreary couple days this week at the Miami Open and Calle Ocho. But’s we’re not New York or Massachusetts or Alaska.

“Miami’s vibrant, year-round social scene makes it the perfect market for rentals. Even in February, the heart of winter in many cities, my closet generated over $10,000 in rental revenue,” Creatore said. “Pickle has given me a level of financial stability I never had before as a full-time creative.”

In February, The New York Times reported that Pickle is powering a national shift in how millennials and Gen Z and social media influencers are focusing on fast fashion at a click. And, Pickle, which has grown through word-of-mouth, hopes, the Wynwood pop-up will continue that trend.

Why Miami?

“Miami quickly became one of Pickle’s fastest-growing and most engaged markets organically, which made it a natural place for us to experiment with bringing the marketplace into the physical world,” said Julia O’Mara, co-founder and COO of Pickle.

“We first saw the power of this with our West Village location in New York, which showed us that a physical space can help people understand peer-to-peer fashion rental in a completely different way — meeting the community behind the closets, discovering pieces in person and experiencing the platform beyond the app,” she said in an email to the Herald.

Pickle co-founder Julia O’Mara Pickle

O’Mara cited Miami’s “vibrant fashion culture and calendar of style moments,” naming Swim Week, which is scheduled for various Miami Beach venues May 25-June 1; the ongoing Miami Open through March 29 at Hard Rock Stadium; as well as Ultra at Bayfront Park March 27-29 and Formula 1 at Hard Rock’s Miami International Autodrome on May 1-3.

“Perfect market and moment,” O’Mara said.

Pickle’s Miami design Sisters (left to right) Izabel, Ashtin, Alix and Penelope Earle walk down the runway together at the Sports Illustrated Swimwear show at the W South Beach hotel in Miami Beach, FL on Saturday, June 1, 2024. Sophia Bolivar Miami Herald file

The pop-up store is designed to reflect Miami’s fashion culture specifically, the company says. Inventory will come from local closets and be merchandised around Ultra, the Miami Open, Formula 1 and Swim Week. Another goal: the space aims to function as a community hub by hosting in-person events bringing renters, lenders and creators together — patterned after events hosted at New York’s West Village outlet.

This Miami space will run until June as part of Pickle’s broader retail strategy: popping up in cities when marketplace demand and cultural moments are strongest, rather than maintaining permanent stores year-round, according to the company.

What about Art Basel and attendant Miami Art Week events in December?

“We’re using this store as an opportunity to test and learn before committing to another pop-up later this year,” said co-founder and CEO Brian McMahon. “We’re actively exploring additional in-person activations in Miami, as well as the potential for a more permanent footprint. We do tend to see demand spike in November and December around Art Basel, and those are exactly the kinds of moments we look at when thinking about timing — whether that’s another pop-up or something more long-term.”

Are men in mind?

So, the natural question is, do men figure into Pickle’s plans?

“Menswear is a natural area for us to expand into over time,” McMahon says. “We’re already seeing early, organic demand beyond women’s fashion — things like cameras, luggage and beauty tools — which points to where the platform can and will go,” he said.

“At the core, we think about Pickle as a marketplace for high-quality items that aren’t used all the time. Our goal is to unlock the value of items sitting in people’s homes and make them more accessible within local communities.”

The second most rented item on Pickle in 2025 was actually a Canon Powershot G7 X Mark II camera, valued at $1,500. That camera rents for $100 a week. One always has to be ready for that standout Instagram.

Pop-up detailsWhere: The Pickle pop-up opening March 21 until May 31 is at 319 NW 25th St. in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.How will it work? Clothes will be available for rent at the Wynwood location. The clothes are sourced from local Miami closets — a mix of everyday locals and local creators. Items would be returned to the store by the shopper, or they can opt for on-demand courier to bring it back to the store, said spokeswoman Christine Heerwagen.What if outfit gets damaged? Accidents happen, Pickle acknowledges on its website. “Damage is rare, but when it happens, renters are responsible,” Pickle says in its protection plans for owner and for renter. First: Let the owner know right away about any issues. If you return the item with damage beyond normal wear, you are responsible for repair costs. If it can’t be repaired, the renter is responsible for replacement cost and may keep the item.Should you clean the item before returning? In general, no. You’re not required to clean the item before returning unless the owner specifically asks you to clean it. Dry cleaning costs are usually factored into the rental price. Items that are blood-stained can’t be returned as that’s considered a biohazard. If that happens, renters may keep the item and will be charged for its replacement.Users are verified and the platform includes reviews, ratings, and profile visibility to let people on both sides feel more confident before they rent or lend. “Similar to reviews on Airbnb,” according to Pickle. The protection plans also have provisions for issues such as an item arrives and it’s not as described, it’s unfit to wear, or doesn’t fit.App detailsWhere’s the app? The Pickle App is available via the iOS Apple App Store on iPhones. A dedicated Android version is not currently listed on the Google Play Store.Lenders get started by joining the app, uploading a photo and description of the item by clicking the Closet tab, setting a price and availability, and selecting a preferred shipping method, according to Pickle. Information visit: www.shoponpickle.com/home.

This story was originally published March 19, 2026 at 2:59 PM.

Howard Cohen

Miami Herald

Miami Herald consumer trends reporter Howard Cohen, a 2017 Media Excellence Awards winner, has covered pop music, theater, health and fitness, obituaries, municipal government, breaking news and general assignment. He started his career in the Features department at the Miami Herald in 1991. Cohen is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Communication.
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