Fashion app Pickle leaves sour taste at neighbor’s LA drive

Fashion app Pickle leaves sour taste at neighbor’s LA drive

Pickle’s drive received way more than its estimated donations. shoponpickle/Instagram

Sustainable clothing start-up, Pickle, is apparently too good for brands like Zara and H&M — so they dumped them on a neighbor with an even smaller space, sources told Page Six.

We previously reported that the peer-to-peer fashion rental app’s NYC clothing drive at its West Village store in NYC turned away donations of fast-fashion brands like H&M to donate to victims of LA wildfires in lieu of more upscale threads.

But one small business owner in the area told us that Pickle inconsiderately redirected more run-of-the-mill clothes to them without a heads up.

Pickle turned away fast fashion items at a clothing drive. shoponpickle/Instagram
Several New York businesses, including Pickle, held clothing drives for victims of the LA wildfires. Getty Images
Pickle gave donors a guide to giving clothes. shoponpickle/Instagram

“We were not prepared for the level of donations we received. Our community is much smaller and [the clothing drive] was for clients only and wasn’t widely advertised,” the owner of a small fitness place told Page Six.

Pickle, with a West Village flagship store, is “driven by a desire to break free from the endless cycle of fast fashion,” according to its site.

A spokesperson for the start-up told us they turned away fast-fashion items because they received “four times the estimated amount of donations.”

Pickle discouraged donors from giving clothing from brands like H&M. shoponpickle/Instagram

“We eventually made the decision to prioritize items that could have the greatest long-term impact,” which meant, “brand new and high-quality pieces designed to hold up over time as people rebuilt their lives and wardrobes,” the rep said.

The spokesperson added, “we provided information on nearby organizations better equipped to take them.”

But turns out that one “nearby organization” was a fitness biz that was having its own clothing drive that was only advertised to its clients and 1,800 followers on social media.

A source told us Pickle turned them away because they donated clothes from Zara. Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
A rep for Pickle said they received four times the amount of donations expected. shoponpickle/Instagram

Pickle allegedly inundated the spot with its overflow, non-designer clothes.

“We had no clue what was going on. We got eight times what we were prepared for,” the flummoxed source said.

One employee finally figured out why they were getting such an influx when one donor allegedly told them, “Pickle didn’t want my clothes because they weren’t good enough.”

The small business was unaware it was were receiving Pickle’s rejects — until a donor told them. shoponpickle/Instagram

“One guy had [an unworn] suit from Barney’s, and they wouldn’t accept it. We accepted it all — even though we had no space,” the source said.

A different source previously told us that Pickle turned away their kids clothes from Zara and H&M, but told them Nike was OK.

Pickle’s rep said they plan to “adapt our approach to maximize our impact” as it expands and partners with other organizations.

Donors lined up at the posh shop. shoponpickle/Instagram
Pickle says it helped the neighbor sort and ship the clothes to LA. shoponpickle/Instagram

A spokesperson for Pickle further told us it did direct donors to other local drives, but when the neighboring business contacted Pickle, the startup “took immediate steps to support them,” including sending volunteers to help with packing and “partnering with shipping services” to send the bounty to LA.

The rep added that, “we were contacted by a local business who thanked us for guiding people to their space, but also informed us that they needed to pause accepting donations due to space constraints.”

They also explained, “As soon as we received that message, we immediately notified all our volunteers to stop referencing their location,” and that when the neighbor, “reached out with concerns about the volume of donations they received on Sunday… we took immediate steps to support them” — including helping sort and pack donations, helping ship the donations to LA and “continuing to work closely with them to ensure their team and community feel supported.”

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