Odel featured in new international business guide

Otara and Odel: A case study on ‘How to Set up and Run a Fashion Label’

Otara Gunewardene’s success in building Odel as a brand and a business has become a case study in an international bestseller by fashion guru Toby Meadows, visiting lecturer at the London College of Fashion, and consultant to the industry.

Gunewardene and Odel have received a double-page spread in the second edition of his book ‘How to Set up and Run a Fashion Label’, currently translated in to six languages.

In it, Meadows summarises the Odel story, from its humble beginnings in the boot of founder Otara Gunewardene’s station wagon, to its growth and evolution into a top Sri Lankan brand, and the company’s milestone IPO.

Described as “a no-nonsense guide to running your own business, whether it is within the clothing, accessories or footwear sectors,” the book also features several other well-known international brands such as Christopher Raeburn, Anne Fontaine, Karen Walker, Jimmy Choo Noir, Caroline Charles, Gil Carvalho, Ed Hardy, Yasmin Kianfar, Knomo and No Added Sugar.

‘How to Set up and Run a Fashion Label’ is widely distributed and can be bought directly from the publishers Laurence King, at leading international bookstores or online stores including Waterstones, Borders and Amazon.

There are separate UK and US editions of the book as well as French, Spanish, German and Chinese translations.  

Toby Meadows is the Founder and Director of Three’s Company Creative Consultancy, a collective of fashion professionals providing creative and business services to the fashion industry, as well as a Director of the London-based cult womens’ wear designer label ‘Belle & Bunty’, a regular in the pages of the fashion press and loved by celebrities such as Victoria Beckham and Lindsay Lohan.

As well as consulting to hundreds of small to medium sized fashion enterprises, Meadows has worked with some of the world’s largest and most recognised fashion businesses from high street giants Gap, Zara and Topshop, to high-end designer labels Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Christian Dior, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood.