ODA ODYSSEY: 

Reflections from the designer

ODA ODYSSEY: A Fashion Fable was one of the most important moments in my journey as a designer. It continued the ODA universe, but also offered a chance to reset and reflect, breathing new life into the brand by building a narrative of where we have been and where we are headed. It felt vital to mark this point in our journey by carving out our story - to chronicle ODA not just as a label, but as an ever-evolving world shaped by destruction, resistance, and rebirth, interconnected through shifting realms and realities.

The show unfolded as a three-act fable - Dystopia, Apocalypse, and Utopia - presenting ODA’s journey in order of how it plays out in our universe: revisiting the past two collections, Dystopia and Apocalypse, while previewing our upcoming ODA UTOPIA collection. Each look became a character with their own story, every garment animated through performance so the runway itself felt theatrical and alive. Giving ODA this narrative-like structure allowed me to not only create the garments but also the world they belong to. It let me lean further into the fantasy elements first explored in the ODA DYSTOPIA photography book and bring them into live performance, with spirit guides SYR and Alicia Tryde effortlessly leading the audience from one phase of the fable to the next. Each garment was created through slow, sustainable processes - hand dyeing, distressing, reconstruction, and upcycling - transforming them into relics salvaged from old worlds and reimagined for new ones.

What made ODA ODYSSEY truly special was the community that carried it. This was our most ambitious showcase to date, supported by a team of over 60 predominantly queer artists and collaborators working together to bring this fantasy to life. Similarly to ODA DYSTOPIA, we used this opportunity to raise funds for the trans members of our ODA team. The ODA team has always been at the heart of these showcases, and it really does take a village of talented, generous, and supportive people to make them happen. Our community is the glue that holds the brand together.

To stand inside The Famous Spiegeltent, the most iconic venue of the Fringe, on closing night and to share this work in the heart of my home city was both surreal and deeply personal. Growing up in Edinburgh, the Fringe was always a magical thing that engulfed the city during August, which I frequented heavily every year, likely before I could even walk, and truly never seeing a place for my work within its institution. To end the festival in a venue I had idolised since childhood, with my own work, my own community, and my own story, was a full-circle moment that felt beyond anything I could have imagined when I began ODA only a year ago.

ODA ODYSSEY was more than a fashion show. It was a fable, a warning, a celebration, and a hope - a reminder that destruction follows inaction, but that resilience and imagination can build new worlds. For me, it was a culmination of everything ODA has been so far, and a glimpse into everything it might yet become.