Newsletters
Luxury swimwear designer Melissa Odabash has marked 25 years in the fashion industry with a private showcase at Miami Swim Week – The Shows. The event, held at The Bass Museum of Art on Friday, spotlighted a new anniversary collection celebrating Odabash’s legacy in revolutionizing the swimwear and resort wear sector.
The special collection paid tribute to the glamor of 1970s swimwear—an era that inspired Odabash through the timeless elegance of her mother’s beach fashion. Known for her flattering silhouettes and high-quality fabrics, Odabash revisited signature cuts and prints from her early days and reinterpreted them for today’s fashion-conscious clientele.
"The anniversary collection is really a celebration of the journey—where we started and how far we’ve come," she said.
Melissa Odabash began her career as a swimwear model in Paris before launching her eponymous label in 2000 in the U.S. At the time, the swimwear market was minimal and highly seasonal.
"Honestly, the swimwear and resortwear industry barely existed 25 years ago," said Odabash. "Very few brands created collections in winter."
But Odabash helped redefine the category. "It became more than just going to the beach—it came to represent an entire way of living," she noted, emphasizing how she was among the first to build a year-round lifestyle brand around resort fashion.
With global challenges like COVID-19, Brexit, and evolving international regulations, Odabash acknowledges the resilience required to remain a top-tier name.
"Growing is one thing, but staying at the top is an entirely different challenge," said the designer, whose collections are sold at Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Bergdorf Goodman, and other high-end retailers.
Her 25th anniversary line includes sleek one-piece suits, bikinis, coverups, accessories, and her standout Apres-Plage line—luxurious post-beach attire inspired by the laid-back elegance of Marrakech.
Though born and raised in the U.S., Odabash has long suspected her roots stretch back to Türkiye. In a 2010 interview with Sabah, she shared:
"I don’t know exactly where, but my grandfather was Turkish. He moved to America when he was young, and when he passed, we couldn’t find any records of his origins."
She added that her father had a "very Turkish look," and many of her Turkish friends are convinced by her demeanor and style that she shares Anatolian roots.
Odabash frequently visits Istanbul and expresses admiration for Turkish women’s fashion sense.
"I’m always amazed at how stylish Turkish women are," she noted.
Odabash's designs have been favored by the likes of Kate Moss, Beyonce, Cindy Crawford, Jennifer Lopez, Uma Thurman, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Her success has often been fueled by the visibility her pieces receive on international celebrities, first appearing in tabloids, then flying off retail shelves.
1 min read
