Recho Omondi is behind the best fashion podcast in the world right now

In May, a video clip of stylist Law Roach on an episode of The Cutting Room podcast went viral. The clip in question was of a conversation between Law and Recho Omondi, the podcast’s founder and self-professed ​“image architect”, in which the stylist named high fashion brands that refused to dress Zendaya for the red carpet at the start of her career.

“I I would write Saint Laurent, Chanel, Gucci, Valentino and Dior,” he said, ​“and they would all say no, try again next year, she’s too green.” Now, Law and Zendaya are one of red carpet fashion’s most formidable and chameleonic duos, having worked together on a number of press tours.

On Recho’s Instagram page, the video has garnered 79,000 likes. Funnily enough, the link-up started with a good, old-fashioned Insta DM. Was Recho prepared for the internet’s reaction to the interview? ​“I think the reason the clip went so viral is because we’re unpacking a level of [the fashion] industry that people are curious about,” she says. ​“People don’t know how the industry works – they actually don’t.”

The episode then dove into Zendaya’s alleged faithfulness to Christian Louboutin’s So Kate shoe (“I love these questions, no one ever asks me these questions,” Law replied) and the way Annie Leibovitz shoots Black women – a topic which caused even more of a stir online. ​“I’m stressed,” was Recho’s retort when Law brought up Lewbowitz’s recent shoots with American tennis player Coco Gauff and, of course, Zendaya.

It was an exchange that could conjure a smile from the frostiest of listeners. More importantly, it was an example of a healthy dialogue about fashion online. The internet lapped it up, dissecting every second of the interview.

“[How listeners would respond] was not something that I was conscious of at that moment – we were just communicating,” Recho says from her home in New York. ​“But if people responded to it that way, that’s fantastic. I think there [should be] room for more healthy disagreement.”

And with a a combined 218,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram, there have been a few more feather-ruffling moments on the pod: Recho and prolific Hollywood stylist Karla Welch delving into styling as a dog whistle for PR, for instance, or Yasiin Bey, AKA Mos Def, weighing in on whether Drake should be classified as a hip-hop artist.

Now, after a two month summer hiatus, The Cutting Room Floor resumes today. Recho’s anticipation is palpable. ​“It’s exciting,” she says, ​“especially when you’ve been doing something for a long time. It’s exciting when people start discovering it.”

She’s been running the show since 2018, and her ability to pull compelling stories out of cult fashion figures such as Martine Rose, Heaven’s Ava Nope and Christopher John Rodgers is second to none. Now, as a Patreon-only podcast (although you can listen to archive episodes on Spotify), it’s safe to say her audience knows what they’re getting when they tune into an episode: industry intel, hard-hitting questions and a self-assured host who won’t compromise on her values – there are no #AD’s to appease PR’s.

“I wish I could say I had the luxury of ​‘planning’ a season,” she says, laughing. ​“I started The Cutting Room Floor from my living room. Showrunners and a production schedule are things that have come into the fold as the show’s grown.”

With years of experience in the fashion industry under her belt, Recho realised that she wasn’t getting what she needed from the fashion industry. ​“I created a show that I wished existed,” Recho says. Six years before deciding to set up a podcast from the comfort of her living room, she was a pre-med student who decided to pivot into fashion ​“because she couldn’t stop reading fashion magazines”. She studied at Savannah College of Art and Design, graduating with a degree in fashion design and pattern making. Then, she launched a brand, which she ran for five years, eventually dissolving it in 2020.

“I wanted to see something that was intelligent, that was educational, that was niche, that was informed and had a level of credibility, but also a level of candour.”

Targeting and talking to insiders in the industry was always Recho’s main goal: ​“I always say that we don’t cover the red carpet, runway, red carpet products, celebrities or trends. If you’re interested in that, there are a million fashion media platforms to get that information.”

It was during the series’ third season, after a 2021 interview with Man Repeller​’s Leandra Medine went viral, that Recho decided to put the podcast behind a paywall. ​“The episode received a lot of backlash and I decided I wouldn’t let the internet argue with me for free, nor would I give my work away again for free,” she says. ​“I was not putting a high enough value on the work I was providing.”

Where some might be influenced to cater to a new and sudden influx of listeners, Recho is firm in her direction for the show. ​“The guests are based on me, on who I’m interested in. They have to have something to offer,” she says. ​“Not everyone is cut out for The Cutting Room Floor.”

There are episodes that Recho has had to shelve, for reasons that run from ​“something [happening] behind the scenes” to ​“a lack of respect”, she continues. ​“It could be bad vibes. It could be whatever I want because it’s my show. I have this acronym, ​‘ECSS’– my audience is aware of it – that I use as a benchmark for guests: Expertise, Charisma, Stage presence and Storyteller. Someone’s rarely a natural storyteller.”

London’s own Martine Rose is an exception to the rule, Recho revealed to her Patreon fans: ​“I admire her humility and the patience she’s maintained with her career.”

As for what the future holds, it’s onwards and upwards for Recho, who won’t be restarting her dissolved ready-to-wear label anytime soon (“It feels like going back to an ex-boyfriend. We had a great time but that chapter is closed”). Instead, she’s firmly focused on the podcasting world. Now that The Cutting Room Floor is back, she’s got plenty of tricks up her sleeve.

“Lauren Ezersky [an American host and former model] gave me a really lovely piece of advice as someone who’s now in her sixties or seventies, which was: ​‘You’re only as good as the guest is,’” Recho says. Or maybe, in her case, the guest is only as good as the host.