Interview: By Rotation Founder, Eshita Kabra-Davies
THE WICK: What does a typical Monday look like for you?
Eshita Kabra-Davies: Monday helps me set the tone for my week. I always start with a reformer Pilates class followed by our Mayfair office in London to catch up with the team, and communicate with our colleagues across the world on Slack. I try to keep this day as quiet as possible when it comes to external meetings or events, in order to have clarity for the plan ahead of the week. I try to end the day with a walk in the park with my dog Saffron; this is my treat!
TW: You founded By Rotation after a trip to Rajasthan. How did that experience shift your thinking around fashion, ownership, and sustainability?
EKD: Seeing the effects of textile waste first-hand was sobering to say the least. It made me realise the way we were consuming fashion was unsustainable from an environmental and financial perspective. It sparked a shift in me from being a passive consumer to a conscious one and ultimately led me to create a platform where we can share fashion amongst each other and ensure we’re doing right by the planet whilst still enjoying that feeling of being involved in the fashion world.
TW: Where did your passion for visual culture and design begin?
EKD:
I think I’ve always had a creative side – I’ve been web designing since the age of 11 (Neopets, anyone?) and even created and ran a very popular message board/forum for fellow graphic designers across the world before the days of Reddit. My entrepreneurial flair began to show at the age of 13, when I was selling graphic design layouts to people across the world, and being paid in US Dollars via PayPal! My parents were bewildered and finally understood what I was doing at 2am on my laptop every night as a teenager in Singapore…
I believe my eye comes from my heritage and culture – as a Rajasthani, as an Indian – we are exposed to so many colours, scents, flavours, experiences from such a young age. I loved embracing our variety and diversity, and learning how to make them flow visually through graphic design and art seemed to be the most accessible way to make my own world.
TW: What has been your proudest milestone in your venture, By Rotation?
EKD: I think the sheer reach of the app is something I’m incredibly proud of. We’re available in the UK, the US and the UAE. It marks a real shift in fashion consumption, and we have also been able to make some real changes in people’s lives. One of our top lenders used her earnings to fund her half of her IVF journey, which in itself is insane. We’ve also had other users tell us it’s helped them fall back in love with their bodies after things like childbirth and cancer. We’re helping people change the way they look at themselves, and I can’t help but be proud of that.
“It sparked a shift in me from being a passive consumer to a conscious one and ultimately led me to create a platform where we can share fashion amongst each other and ensure we’re doing right by the planet whilst still enjoying that feeling of being involved in the fashion world.”
