What if a studio had no clients? Codea answered with a shoe range

Independent studios are in a good position right now, Codea co-founder Alex Marti argues — but are they going far enough? Writing in Creative Review on October 27, 2026, Marti poses the question behind his studio’s boldest recent move: “What if we didn’t have any clients?”

Codea’s answer is a product of its own. The studio has launched a range of shoes under the new brand od.A, created in partnership with Aka-research and SeaLlab, at London’s Dover Street Market. The exclusive takeover of the shoe space and the launch were timed to coincide with art fair Frieze London and with the launch of Codea’s new London office. Two styles are available, the 001 and 002.

Marti is clear that this is an experiment, not an exit: the studio still has a roster of clients it loves working with, across arts, sports, and fashion. The point is what that client work builds — perspective and honed skills at the sweet spot between lifestyle and cultural relevance — and whether those skills can be pushed in a different direction, designing and selling products of the studio’s own. As Marti frames it, the experiment tests whether designing and selling products could be the key to creative and financial freedom.

Why it matters for independent teams: most small studios live and die by billable hours and the next commission. An own-product line, even a small one, is a different kind of asset — one the studio controls, prices, and learns from directly. Codea’s launch does not prove the model works yet; it proves a respected independent studio thinks it is worth testing in public, with its own name on the product. For teams feeling the feast-or-famine cycle, that is the takeaway worth stealing: a side product does not have to replace client work to change the shape of a studio.

Source: Creative Review