S05 Episode 245 | Eshita Kabra-Davies of By Rotation on fashion rental, making the sharing economy personal & challenging the pressure of *newness*

<p class=""><img src= "https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/show/99761/Ep245-ByRotation6-libsyn.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="600" /></p> <p class="">In episode 245, Kestrel welcomes Eshita Kabra-Davies, the CEO and founder of By Rotation, to the show. A UK-based social fashion rental app and platform, <a href= "https://www.byrotation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">By Rotation</a> is dedicated to transforming the way we consume fashion.</p> <p><strong>“I think no one’s really attempted to make fashion rental about the sharing economy, to make it about women sharing with each other. It’s always been seen more as a “oh, I want to wear designer clothing” or “oh, I want to wear something new” or “oh, I have a charity gala or a ball to go to”. It’s always been for those sort of reasons — it’s never really addressed the fact that we all have enough fashion in our existing wardrobes.” -Eshita</strong></p> <p class="">Have you heard the recent discussion about how the rental market could have a <strong><em>worse</em></strong> impact on the planet than just throwing your clothes in the trash? It’s been circulating around across the mainstream media after a new study was released in the journal - <em>Environmental Research Letters</em>.</p> <p class="">First of all — research within the fashion space is so important and necessary and needed. We are lacking in accumulated data as an industry, so it is always exciting to learn about new studies and the way they go about putting their findings together. At the same time, when it comes to research, there are going to be biases involved, every detail cannot be accounted for, and there will be some assumptions made. It’s complex, yet important to continue to question and explore the nuance with the arrival of new data and new framings of analytics.</p> <p class="">When it comes to reports like this, it’s very important to hear from individuals on different sides of the results and to listen to multiple perspectives. On this week’s show, we talk with Eshita — the founder and C