Back Row with Amy Odell
Back Row with Amy Odell
Amy Odell
Fashion, style, celebrity and culture. Insider knowledge. Outsider honesty. Humor included.
The Met Cancels the John Galliano Retrospective (with Dana Thomas) [TEASER]
This is a teaser of a paywalled episode. To listen in full, become a paid subscriber of Back Row at: https://www.backrow.net/subscribe. Or sign up in Apple Podcasts or Spotify. In a stunning move, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has cancelled "John Galliano: Horizons," the Costume Institute retrospective planned for May 2027. Galliano's biographer and fashion journalist Dana Thomas joined Amy hours after the Met made the announcement. They discuss what this means for fashion, for John Galliano, and for the Met Gala's planner and previously all-powerful architect, Anna Wintour. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 00:30 Why Dana wasn't surprised 01:30 When you lose the politicians and the donors 03:00 "Not an aberration" — Dana's New York Times op-ed 05:00 The incidents that never got reported 06:00 The 2019 spa incident 07:30 What the comment sections revealed 11:30 Philippe Virgitti, still waiting for an apology Subscribe to the Back Row newsletter: https://www.backrow.net/subscribe Buy Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano: https://amzn.to/4cSeZHw Edited by Chrissi Harris. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 1
15 min
'The September Issue' Rewatch: Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington, and the Sienna Miller Hair Crisis (with Kate Casey)
*SUBSCRIBE to the Back Row newsletter for more coverage like this: https://www.backrow.net/subscribe. Go Premium and save three months on an annual subscription and get access to 'The September Issue' Rewatch Bonus episode!* The September Issue is R.J. Cutler's 2009 documentary about the biggest issue of Vogue ever made up to that point — 843 pages, 13 million copies sold. Amy is joined by Kate Casey, host of Reality Life with Kate Casey and a documentary and reality TV expert, to rewatch it seventeen years later. They get into what Anna Wintour really thought of the film, why she and her Vogue team hated Sienna Miller's hair so much, how it all aged, and much more. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 02:00 13 million copies sold — and what's left now 06:00 How Anna and Grace actually met 17:30 The retailers' breakfast, when Vogue set the trends 25:00 "Your girls always look the same" - Anna at her harshest 41:00 Anna at home, and the kids who didn't follow her 48:00 The Sienna Miller cover disaster 1:07:00 843 pages, and the era that ended 📺 SUBSCRIBE to the Back Row Newsletter: https://www.backrow.net/subscribe 📷 Follow Back Row on Instagram: @backrow 📷 Follow Amy on Instagram: @instamyodell Follow Kate Casey 🎙️ Reality Life with Kate Casey: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reality-life-with-kate-casey/id1154758766 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7iZzKUbEWAsWVkFRebb9Gu 📷 Follow Kate on Instagram: @katecaseyca This episode was edited by Chrissi Harris. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 31
1 hr 9 min
How Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Built Two Billion-Dollar Empires (Part 1)
Back Row is on vacation this week, so we're revisiting one of the most popular episodes of the year: a two-parter on Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, in honor of The Row's 20th anniversary. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were on television before they could talk and millionaires before they could read. Former Us Weekly editor-in-chief Dan Wakeford, author of the new ⁠Celebrity Intelligence newsletter⁠, joins Back Row to break down the Full House casting story, the Dual Star empire, the billion-dollar licensing machine, and the NYU years that changed everything. Part Two — revealing the secrets behind The Row — is available to Premium subscribers. Sign up at ⁠Back Row⁠ (https://www.backrow.net/subscribe) to get newsletter access included with your subscription, or in Apple Podcasts or Spotify. ⁠Find Part Two in Apple Podcasts here⁠ ⁠Find Part Two in Spotify here⁠ Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:40 Dan Wakeford and Celebrity Intelligence 02:47 Why the Olsens are a unique case study 07:50 The Full House casting story 10:07 The reality of child stardom 16:22 How their personalities diverged early 19:49 From pennies to $80,000 an episode 26:27 The home video empire begins 33:28 The billion dollar licensing machine 48:00 Turning 18 and taking control 53:41 NYU and the paparazzi years 57:47 How everything changed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 24
1 hr
'Matcha, Pilates, Alo' Enters Its Flop Era: Inside the Influencer Recession
SUBSCRIBE to the Back Row newsletter for more coverage like this: https://www.backrow.net/subscribe. Go Premium and save three months on an annual subscription. Is everything on social media — even lifestyle content — just rage bait now? New York Magazine features writer Rebecca Jennings joins Amy to unpack her hit Vulture piece on the "influencer recession," when aspirational content no longer works and creators have to come up with "brand-safe rage bait." What does this mean both for the content landscape but also, for rage itself? CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 02:00 What is the "influencer recession"? 02:45 The clipping economy & fake virality 05:15 Audrey Peters & the $25 DoorDash coffee 10:30 Why the Alo yacht flopped 14:35 Why Birkins are embarrassing now 19:30 The OpenAI influencer farm trip 24:00 Brands manufacturing their own rage bait 30:00 How Substack changed the game 34:30 Is rage bait losing its power? Read Rebecca's story: The Influencer Recession — https://www.vulture.com/article/influencer-recession-audrey-peters-interview.html Edited by Chrissi Harris. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 17
38 min
Is Fashion in Total Creative Collapse?
*SUBSCRIBE to the Back Row newsletter for more coverage like this: https://www.backrow.net/subscribe. Go Premium and save three months on an annual subscription.* Is fashion in the throes of a total creative collapse? Critic Eugene Rabkin — founder of StyleZeitgeist and author of the new book Torn: Fashion and Postmodernism — joins Amy to make the case. He argues luxury has "devolved into a consumerist spectacle," its lack of ideas papered over by relentless marketing. They get into the greedflation behind a $140,000 Dior dress, why "craftsmanship" is the industry's greatest con, the Italian sweatshop scandals that never seem to stick, how Bernard Arnault turned the fashion world into the fashion industry — and the death of criticism, and why nobody seems to care. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 02:30 Fashion's creative collapse: the thesis 08:30 Greedflation & the $140,000 Dior dress 13:00 The craftsmanship con 15:00 Sweatshop scandals: Dior & Loro Piana's vicuña 23:30 The death of fashion criticism 32:00 Bernard Arnault & how he industrialized fashion 📺 SUBSCRIBE to the Back Row Newsletter: https://www.backrow.net/subscribe 📷 Follow Back Row on Instagram: @backrow 📷 Follow Amy on Instagram: @instamyodell Follow Eugene Rabkin 📷 Follow Eugene on Instagram: @eugenerabkin 📚 Buy the book: Torn: Fashion and Postmodernism This episode was edited by Chrissi Harris. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 10
41 min
John Galliano Is Finally Getting a Met Gala. Should He? (Teaser)
John Galliano is the subject of the Costume Institute's 2027 exhibition and will be celebrated with his very own Met Gala. Galliano's biographer Dana Thomas — author of Gods and Kings, a dual biography about Galliano and Alexander McQueen — joins the show to talk about what this means. Amy and Dana recap Galliano's fall from grace and image rehabilitation — thanks to Anna Wintour. This is a free preview. Hear the full conversation — a detailed recap of the controversy, the apology Galliano never made, and Amy's take on whether the Met should honor him — in the full episode in Back Row Premium. Sign up for the newsletter at backrow.net/subscribe to access the newsletter plus all Premium podcasts, or subscribe for audio only in Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 4
8 min
The Louvre Heist and Shady Billionaire Art Owners
"Parisian Heist" author Jo Piazza joins Amy to break down the October 2025 Louvre robbery — the suspects, the mysterious "sponsor," and why authorities aren't sure the suspects are telling the truth. Plus: why museum security is so basic, how art gets used to launder money and fund violent crime, the billionaire families who quietly run the art market, and what a $181 million Jackson Pollock says about the state of art and wealth. (00:00) Introduction (02:30) Recap: the Louvre heist, October 19, 2025 (04:30) The Isabella Stewart Gardner heist: $500M, still unsolved (07:30) The arrests and the mysterious "sponsor" named Joe (08:30) How basic museum security really is (13:00) What was stolen: the Napoleonic crown jewels (16:30) The Wildensteins & how art launders money (30:00) The $60 billion shadow art market (31:00) Restoring Empress Eugénie's crown & the French jewelry houses (38:30) The $181M Pollock & Jerry Saltz's takedown of the art market Subscribe to the Back Row newsletter: https://www.backrow.net/subscribe Buy The Parisian Heist: https://amzn.to/4yLV6ex Follow Back Row: @backrow · Follow Amy: @instamyodell · Follow Jo: @jopiazzaauthor Edited by Chrissi Harris. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 3
45 min
How Meta Turned Smart Glasses Into 'Hot Surveillance Summer' (with Taylor Lorenz)
In this special episode in collaboration with the Power User podcast Amy Odell joins tech journalist Taylor Lorenz to trace the arc of wearable tech — from the abomination that was Google Glass to Snapchat's vending-machine Spectacles and the company's recent $2,000 flop. Also, why Meta's rollout of it's new $299 fashion-first AI glasses, odious as many find them, may end up being a smash hit. Follow Taylor's show Power User on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube, and subscribe to her newsletter, UserMag. Chapters: 00:00 Intro — why everyone's arguing about Meta's glasses 01:36 Turning a camera into a fashion accessory 01:55 Welcome + the "hot surveillance summer" question 02:45 Google Glass and the original abomination 04:16 Snapchat Spectacles, vending machines, and a $130 flop 06:48 GoPro and how sports normalized filming everything 08:55 Ray-Ban Stories (2021) and the "creep" problem 10:57 2025: Oakley Meta and the first AI glasses 11:55 2026: low-profile frames, rhinestones, and AI as the real sell 13:25 The influencer rollout and the decline of fashion media 18:39 Why Kylie Jenner 21:40 How phones already normalized recording everything 24:56 Fashion, plausible deniability, and getting women on board 26:20 Will they actually sell? Meta's copy machine 29:19 The anti-screen crowd may be Meta's best customer 32:14 Beyond glasses: pins, pendants, and camera AirPods 35:29 Who owns the data? Facial recognition and the scary part 37:11 Zuckerberg, Bezos, the Met Gala, and OpenAI's fashion play 39:59 Snap's $2,000 flop and why ugly tech dies 43:03 Wrap-up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 30
43 min
The Kennedys and British Royals: Diana's Death, Meghan Markle's Muse, and JFK Jr.'s Ego
***SUBSCRIBE to the Back Row newsletter for more coverage like this. Go Premium and save three months on an annual subscription.*** Town & Country editor Caroline Hallemann's new book is The Kennedys and the Windsors: The Story of Two Dynasties, One Born, One Made. She joins Amy to discuss the eerie parallels between these two dynasties. Among the surprising stories in Hallemann's book: how Jackie Kennedy fought to keep wearing French designers as First Lady, why JFK Jr. wanted Princess Diana on the cover of George, the real story behind Diana's death and the ongoing conspiracy theories, and how Meghan Markle copied Carolyn Bessette's style. Plus: what Jack Schlossberg's blistering congressional loss means for the Kennedy dynasty. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 03:00 Young Jackie at Miss Porter's and her enduring fashion influence 08:00 What "American Love Story" got wrong about Carolyn Bessette 10:30 JFK Jr. launches George magazine 14:00 Why John wanted Diana on the cover 20:00 Diana's death: what actually happened 32:00 The conspiracy theories that still swirl around Diana's death 39:00 Why Meghan Markle keeps copying Carolyn Bessette's style 53:00 Is Jack Schlossberg the next JFK Jr.? Subscribe to the Back Row newsletter: https://www.backrow.net/subscribe Follow Caroline Hallemann: https://www.instagram.com/challemann/ Buy the book: https://amzn.to/4fVX8Bq Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 27
58 min
A Stylist to Billionaires on How the .01 Percent Really Shop
This is a teaser of a paywalled podcast. Get the full episode by subscribing to the Back Row newsletter. For podcast content only, go Premium on Apple or Spotify. Joy Cioci has been in fashion for 23 years — first with her own ready-to-wear and bridal brand, and for the past six years, as a private stylist to some of the wealthiest families in the country. She joins Amy to talk about what that job is actually like: how she pulls $80-90K worth of merchandise on loan for a single client, why some of her clients refuse to play the Hermès "game," and why women spending $1.5 million a year on clothes have no idea what just dropped at Chanel. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 4:00 Who Joy's clients actually are 9:30 How pulling merchandise on loan from stores works 11:00 Inside an $80-90K shopping trip 18:00 What ultra-wealthy people actually want from their wardrobe 21:00 Finding rare pieces no one else has Follow Joy Cioci 📸 Follow Joy on Instagram: @joycioci 🛍️ Shop Joy Cioci: https://joycioci.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 20
24 min
Load more