Amy Odell

New York

Journalist and Columnist and Author at Freelance

Founder and Editor at Back Row

Fashion journalist. Author of ANNA: The Biography, out 5/3/22. Subscribe: https://t.co/Oca55KGASa. Email: [email protected].

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Articles

Met Gala Asserts Anna Wintour's Dominance Once More

1 week ago | amyodell.substack.com | Amy Odell

Today’s issue of Back Row, covering the biggest fashion event of the year, is brought to you by Paperless Post, the go-to invite service for all of the best events. Each year, as red carpet events like the Oscars decline, the Met Gala seems to come out on top in the ongoing Hunger Games for online impressions. Back Row is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. There could be a few reasons for this.
Last-Minute 2025 Met Gala Predictions

1 week ago | amyodell.substack.com | Amy Odell

Happy first Monday in May to all you celebrate! The Met Gala red carpet begins in mere hours and it is POURING RAIN as I type this in New York. That’s right, folks: we’re in for a Wet Gala.
André Leon Talley's 'Anna' Interviews

2 weeks ago | amyodell.substack.com | Amy Odell

The Met Gala celebrating Black dandyism takes place Monday night in New York, which means we’ll be hearing about one of the great dandies of all time: André Leon Talley. The late fashion editor grew up in the Jim Crow south and got his start in the industry working for Diana Vreeland when she was a special consultant for the Costume Institute in the seventies.
The Met Gala: A Clash of Money and Artistic Expression

2 weeks ago | amyodell.substack.com | Amy Odell

If you are the kind of person who thought, Damn, I wish I could buy a $4,500 Giambattista Valli dress and $950 Bally sandals on Amazon, good news! The new Saks x Amazon storefront (*sad horns*) allows you to do just that. Saks probably needs every sale it can get right now. Its cutting 550 jobs in an “effort to consolidate operations” following its acquisition of Neiman Marcus. Also, it has distressed bonds (no one wants those!).
Can Gen Z Founders Fix the Online Shopping Hellscape?

3 weeks ago | amyodell.substack.com | Amy Odell

Oof, can anyone save Gucci? Parent company Kering announced first quarter results: revenue decreased 14 percent, while Gucci sales dropped 25 percent. (Kering sister brand Bottega Veneta, meanwhile, must be a bit smug: its sales were up 4 percent.) New Gucci Creative Director Demna’s designs will premiere in September.
Why a $10,000 Chanel Bag Costs So Much

3 weeks ago | amyodell.substack.com | Amy Odell

Well, this was weird: LVMH chief Bernard Arnault announced that Jonathan Anderson would lead Christian Dior men’s following Kim Jones’s departure. Anderson is widely understood to also be taking over the label’s women’s collections, too — so why the piecemeal announcement? And Just Like That released the season three trailer and I’ll obviously be watching (and probably recapping here). The tone is giving Hallmark but Carrie has rats.
Monse Had to Do Lauren Sànchez's Space Suit

1 month ago | amyodell.substack.com | Amy Odell

A red carpet used to be enough. You know, having a professional pick out someone’s gown and jewels in order for them to be aptly admired walking from their chauffeured car to a venue. That was one way we knew who was rich, Chosen — different from you and me. Well, those days are behind us. Today, going to the Met Gala is no longer enough.
Tariffs Will Hurt, But They Won't Kill Ultrafast Fashion

1 month ago | amyodell.substack.com | Amy Odell

A week ago, President Donald Trump whipped out a poster board and announced a slew of logic-defying tariffs on goods from the countries that make pretty much all of Americans’ clothes and shoes. Business leaders made desperate appeals to Trump, economists called the plans “totally silly.” And this week, as markets spiraled, he “paused” most of them for 90 days, leaving the China tariff in place.
The Singular Appeal of Parker Posey's 'White Lotus' Character

1 month ago | amyodell.substack.com | Amy Odell

This post contains spoilers for the White Lotus season finale. Parker Posey’s White Lotus character Victoria Ratliff possesses qualities that, on paper, would seem loathsome.
The Great Frontier of Compromise Pants

1 month ago | amyodell.substack.com | Amy Odell

Earlier this year, as part of Back Row’s nascent product-testing vertical “Back Row Labs,” I tried sweatpants jeans. Popularized by rag & bone, these pants — essentially sweats that have the image of jeans printed on them with eery accuracy — lie somewhere between soft and hard. They are compromise pants: a compromise between sweatpants and the uncomfortable basic trousers and jeans that fashion beat reporters will be writing advice columns about until the human race goes extinct.