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There was little competition at the time and she managed to quickly stand out with her glamorous ‘high fashion’ designs, landing a two-year contract with lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret and securing precious editorial coverage in Sports Illustrated, with her pieces worn by the likes of Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks.
She now counts a red carpet-worthy roll-call of A-listers among her fans, including Elle Macpherson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Beyonce, Cameron Diaz and Kate Moss, and her collections (five a year) are sold in more than 60 countries. The Duchess of Cambridge has been photographed wearing a Melissa Odabash bikini on holiday in the past, but has she designed swimwear for the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle? “I’ve done pieces for everybody,” she discreetly demurs. “As long as people are happy and like my designs, that’s what counts.”
To celebrate her anniversary, she created an exclusive line of shimmering gold and silver evening dresses and jumpsuits, which sold out so swiftly, she has decided to continue the range. “I love it because I can work with fabrics that don’t need to go in water,” she reasons with her trademark positivity. “I have fun doing new things.”
Melissa, 49, who speaks fluent Italian and still has contracts with Italian factories, moved to London 19 years ago after meeting her half-Italian, half-Spanish husband, corporate strategist Nicolas De Santis, here during a weekend visit. “He’s not involved in the business at all; he has his own company,” she explains, revealing that she is careful to keep her home life with her husband and two daughters, Alaia, 21, and Avalon, 16, completely separate. “I leave my office and shut off. It’s family time,” she says, still adhering to the Italian work ethic that champions a work/life balance.
“I loved it [in Italy]. I had the time of my life. The biggest dilemma was where I was going for the weekend or if I had enough gas in my Vespa,” she smiles.
By her own admission, however, she is something of a workaholic, partly because she remains passionate about her business and thrives on keeping one step ahead in a volatile retail market. She’s also very much her father Arthur’s daughter. A self-made housing contractor in New Jersey, he instilled in Melissa and her four brothers and sisters the importance of being independent and earning their own living. “He used to take us to orphanages to give away our old toys and he always helped anyone who needed it,” says the designer, who produces an annual mastectomy line in partnership with the Future Dreams Breast Cancer charity and plans to help underprivileged young undergraduates study fashion at college through the Odabash Foundation.
Her schedule is daunting by most people’s standards. She breezily tells me she’s due to present her new collection to agents who have flown in from around the world that day, as soon as we finish our chat. “This month alone, I’ve visited ten countries – Florida, France, Spain, Italy, the Caribbean, all over. It’s a crazy schedule,” she laughs unapologetically.
Here, Melissa reveals how she became one of the world’s pre-eminent swimwear designers, who her celebrity icon is and how her experience of living in Italy as a young entrepreneur still influences her business – and mindset – today.
f you happen to visit Melissa Odabash HQ in London’s Mayfair, you may be surprised to see the all-female staff wandering around in swimwear. But for the women employed there, it’s an entirely natural part of the working day.
“There’s always someone in a bikini,” says designer and former model Melissa. “There are so many different body shapes, so I make them try them on. They may come in shy but they’re not after a few months,” she adds with a laugh.
It’s 20 years since this savvy, enterprising American started her business, selling swimwear door-to-door in Rome, Italy, where she worked as a ‘fit’ model for all the major couture houses, including Valentino, Fendi and Prada.
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