Stand By Your Brand: Laura O'Dell of The ODELLS Answers Our Questions

For those of you not yet familiar with this dynamic, super creative husband and wife duo, allow us to introduce you to Laura and Jason O'Dell and their namesake line, The ODELLS. Laura was gracious enough to answer some of our questions for this blog post.

But first, a little background on Laura and the brand. Laura is so inspiring - not only is she an incredible designer, but she's also a mother and owner of the boutique The Odells Shop, located in the Sliverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles! She lives and works in L.A., and is expanding her line to include children's clothes and home decor items. She is incredibly talented, and her designs have long been Horseshoe favorites. Read her answers below to discover why we love her clothes so much! 

Who is The ODELLS' customer? 

She's chic and stylish in a very laid-back, no nonsense way.

What is her style and what are her clothing needs?

She's a no-fuss type of woman. She loves casual simplicity and comfort is always a top priority. She loves a dress up/dress down approach and enjoys rocking sneakers or clogs with dresses in the day and jazzing up the same outfit with a sick pair of heels or booties in the evening. 

The textiles you use for your pieces are so beautiful! How do you create them? 

I'm a big fan of texture. There has to be a good amount of texture in every season. I do a lot of textile sourcing in India because they simply have the best of the best when it comes to uniqueness. Because we work so far ahead of season I'm able to work with our factories on developing custom ikats and prints that are exclusive to us as a brand.

What is your design process like? For example, how do you come up with the patterns for your collections? 

I usually start with a theme when designing a season. Something that inspires me. Either a place I've traveled to or something I've been attracted to visually. From there I start envisioning how this translates to clothes and create a color palate that inspires me. I love mixing neutrals with unexpected pops of color. I then start sourcing my textured fabric like ikats, hand-loomed fabric and dye treatments. It all rolls out pretty seamlessly from there and suddenly I have a collection.   

 

Could you tell us a little about how you and Jason collaborate on the business? 

Jason handles all the production and finance stuff so I get to be creative :-)

What inspires your designs? 

Stylish icons and awesome places I've traveled to.

How did you become interested in fashion and clothing design? 

I've always loved fashion but I truly became interested in my early 20's when I used to combine a lot of vintage looks/clothes with newer contemporary labels. I was also mixing and matching and loved putting 2 unlikely colors or clothing pieces together to create something unique and wonderful.  

Do you have a favorite piece from your spring collection? 

The jumpsuits! All of them, solid and printed :-)

A HUGE thanks to Laura for answering our questions! If you want to learn more about Laura and The ODELLS, check out the recent Sunset magazine cover story about Jason and Laura's gorgeous cabin on Big Bear Lake in California.