Back Row with Amy Odell

Are awards shows still about movies — or are they now luxury fashion marketing disguised as cultural prestige? And who’s actually funding all these celeb red-carpet appearances — the studios, the stars, or the brands?

Amy Odell is joined by Debra Birnbaum, Editor-in-Chief of awards season news outlet Gold Derby, to break down how modern awards campaigns actually work and why the fashion is so important. Amy and Debra talk Timothée Chalamet’s Marty Supreme press tour and if it was too annoying to win (23:10); who really pays for all the glam (14:30); and how the Met Gala came to overshadow the Oscars (33:30).

Subscribe to Amy's Back Row newsletter: https://www.backrow.net/

Follow Amy on Instagram

Follow Debra Birnbaum on Instagram

Check out Gold Derby for more awards season predictions.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 2 of this episode is available to paid subscribers at backrow.net (which includes full newsletter access) or through Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

After years of quiet luxury, opulence is back in fashion.

In this episode of the Back Row podcast, Amy traces the origins of fashion’s current obsession with excess — all the way back to… Bravo?

Joined by Ben Mandelker and Ronnie Karam of the wildly popular Watch What Crappens podcast, they discuss how Real Housewives culture shaped today’s luxury landscape, even as the fashion world distanced itself from reality stars. Lauren Sánchez may be one of the most talked-about attendees at couture week — but Bravo stars have been doing her look for 20 years! They also talk about how much Bravo helped get Gigi and Bella Hadid's careers going, Rachel Zoe's debut on RHOBH, and more.

CHAPTERS
00:00 – Introducing Ben & Ronnie of ‘Watch What Crappens’
01:20 – Lauren Sanchez’s style is just the Bravo look
05:00 – Breaking down the Bravo aesthetic
10:40 – Are Sky tops coming back?
16:50 – Will fashion ever accept the Real Housewives?
24:30 – Would the Hadids have happened without Bravo?
27:30 – What’s up with Mauricio’s Chanel blanket?
30:40 – Is Rachel Zoe too confident for the Real Housewives?
37:10 – Bravo misidentified a Kelly bag
40:20 – The Birkin that costs $1,000,000 (before you can buy it!)
44:30 – Is plastic surgery the new Birkin?

Links & Resources:
Back Row newsletter

Back Row Podcast:
Apple
Spotify

YouTube
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Part 2, Ana Andjelic and Amy Odell break down Meghan Markle’s new brand As Ever, how The Row quietly built one of the most powerful luxury brands in fashion, and what's next for Chiara Ferragni after her acquittal.

Part 2 is available to paid subscribers at backrow.net (which includes full newsletter access) or through Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Celebrity brands are everywhere—but what separates the ones that thrive from those that fail? Can fame alone turn a celebrity idea into a lucrative enterprise?

In this episode of the Back Row Podcast, Amy Odell sits down with branding expert Ana Andjelic (former Chief Brand Officer of Esprit & Banana Republic, author, and the voice behind the newsletter The Sociology of Business) to break down the secret formula behind the most successful celebrity businesses.

From Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop to Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty and Hailey Bieber’s billion-dollar sale of Rhode, they explore why fame alone isn’t enough, how authenticity clashes with marketing hype, and what it really takes to turn star-power into a lasting cultural phenomenon.

CHAPTERS
00:00 – Introduction: Why some celebrity brands succeed while others fail
03:20 – What is Gwyneth Paltrow even selling at Goop? And with the relaunched Gwyn clothing line?
09:10 – The death of quiet luxury: where does Gwyn fit?
10:50 – Apple Martin and Gwyneth’s viral Calvin Klein moment
11:30 – What’s kept audiences captivated by Gwyneth for 30 years
18:00 – Predicting the future of Gwyneth’s brands
21:10 – Alex Cooper and Unwell Hydration is more than just trendy water
29:00 – The key to Hailey Bieber’s $1 billion brand deal
32:45 – Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty is playing the long game
35:00 – Shay Mitchell and Toddler Face Masks: rage bait or reputation ruin
36:00 – Meghan Markle’s brand As Ever: “Last time I talked about her, I got raked over the coals”

Links & Resources
Back Row Newsletter

Amy Odell - Instagram

Ana Andjelic:
Instagram
The Sociology of Business (Newsletter)
The Business of Aspiration (Book)
Hitmakers (Book)

This episode was produced by Amy Odell and edited by Amy Odell and Jonathan Voytko.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this holiday episode of The Back Row Podcast, Amy Odell shares a special installment of Retail Confessions, featuring an anonymous interview with a former Harrods sales associate.

The interviewee discussed what it was really like working on the shop floor at one of the world’s most famous luxury department stores — from intense sales pressure and demanding clients to the unspoken rules of the über-rich. To preserve anonymity, the interviewee’s responses are read by Amy’s husband, Rick.

Sign up for Back Row Premium to hear more episodes like this.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amy Odell talks with model and writer Lauren Chan about what she calls a "recession of size inclusion" in fashion. After years of progress, brands are reverting back to casting “straight size” models by default —and the consequences go far beyond aesthetics.

Lauren shares a fashion week story that captures the problem perfectly: a major entertainment cover shoot featuring a size-12/14 talent had no designer samples available, Amy and Lauren discuss why it matters when the fashion industry ignores bigger bodies; how AI will affect body diversity in fashion; the impact of GLP-1s; and more.

Follow Lauren Chan on Instagram.

Follow Amy Odell on Instagram.

Subscribe to the Back Row newsletter.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices