17. 7. 2026 · opc

The Scoop With David Martin

On How to Sustain an Indie Fashion Magazine.

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By Elektra Kotsoni, Deputy Director, Vogue Runway & Vogue Business

Dear reader,

Welcome to The Scoop: a weekly email series in which I quiz fashion insiders on the stories of the week.

This week’s guest is David Martin, founder and editor-in-chief of Odda magazine, a.k.a. likely the nicest person on fashion’s front row, which he seems to be on constantly. While the rest of us editors, buyers and assorted fashion people alternate between cities and seasons to share the workload with colleagues, David seems to be everywhere, all at once.

After traveling for another long fashion month, David is back in London for a little while working on the next issue of Odda, which comes out in October. I called him up because he had some news to share about his plans afterwards.

The Scoop will only be open access for the next few weeks, so if you want to keep getting it in your inbox, become a Vogue Business Member.

Hi David, what’s the scoop?

Next year is Odda’s 15th anniversary — we launched the magazine on April 14, 2012. We will celebrate over the entire year but the festivities will start with the launch of Issue 32 on April 14, 2027. In terms of content, I am looking to celebrate the people that have been part of our history — those who have been featured but also worked with me on it. I am also considering printing limited editions focused on specific territories. We launched Odda Korea in 2020 and it has been a success. I’m also speaking with sculptor Rona Pondick, who we featured in the magazine in 2022, about a collaboration but it’s too early to know what that would look like yet.

Why did you launch Odda in the first place?

I was 23 and I wanted to connect with the industry — I wanted to connect with designers, the photographers, and the brands. I didn’t come from a fashion background, but ever since I saw Lady Gaga in McQueen in “Bad Romance”, I knew I wanted to be part of that world. I started making sketches and randomly emailed Nicola Formichetti who was working with Gaga at the time, I didn’t know him. He advised me to apply to Central Saint Martins, which I did, and I studied there for three months but ended up dropping out — design wasn’t for me. Then I started a blog, where I was interviewing designers and the brands started inviting me to the shows.

What was the blog called?

Chic by Trade.

We were all so cringe then.

But, at the same time, we were very cute and unpretentious. We were all trying to learn and co-exist at the dawn of social media. Everything was very experimental. When I started Odda in the middle of all this, everyone thought I was crazy. Digital was becoming so important and print was disappearing.

So how did you put that first issue together?

I first put together a prototype with a cover shoot featuring an interior designer. I started sending out copies and emails non-stop, I was harassing people really. After 75 emails, the PR team from Versace responded and I went to Milan to meet them. I explained what I was trying to do with Odda and they agreed to send the entire SS12 collection to Madrid for me to shoot for our first cover story. I didn’t make any money from it obviously, but they covered all expenses, which, for me, was a big deal.

When did you start getting advertising in the magazine?

About three years after we launched. The first ever ad we had in the magazine was a Diesel ad. But my first real client was Prada. Once Prada gave their blessing, everything changed and the other brands started paying attention.

How did you keep an indie magazine in business for 15 years?

I committed to myself and what I wanted to do. I think our society at the moment suffers from a great lack of commitment. I changed my lifestyle completely to fit my ambitions and I dedicated all my time to listening, learning and working. But it was also a different time and there weren’t as many distractions. I think the younger generations have a more complicated path ahead of them.

What advice would you give young people who want to make it in fashion?

To learn to separate their personal lives and work. Your boss isn’t your friend, they need to be able to speak to you in a straightforward way so you can both get the job done.

Olivier Rousteing was announced at Rabanne this week, and there is a new Bottega Veneta CEO — the reshuffle never really ends. What’s the biggest change you have seen in the industry over the last 15 years?

The biggest moment of reflection was Covid, for sure. To start with, the way we connected with each other changed, which led to many of us diversifying our income sources. And of course the brands generated an insane amount of in-store revenue, which led to a crash and now it’s all “sell, sell, sell”. That, in turn, also generated this absolute madness with the celebrities. Before, Chanel would invite Rihanna and she would be the only person at the show. Or Blake Lively. Now you go to a show and you see the entire list of Oscar and Grammy nominees. I think before Covid, CEOs were more focused on investing, growing, and developing the brands they were responsible for.

Auctions are becoming an attraction at every couture week. Last couture saw the auction of Mouna Ayoub’s personal couture collection, this time around, it was Martin Margiela. Whose archive or what items would you like to see auctioned next?

John Galliano’s Egypt-inspired couture collection for Dior [2004]. It’s one of the most incredible things that I have seen in my entire life. And then anything from McQueen’s Plato’s Atlantis collection or any Balenciaga by Nicolas Ghesquière.

You can catch up with last week’s Scoop with Daydream’s Lisa Yamner here.