Recreation. Bode AW24

January 14, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

For autumn-winer 2024, Emily Adams Bode Aujla explores the evolution of athletic wear and character-building through the lens of American institutional sport and competition. The charming, vintage-y collection confirms once again that Bode could potentially head to Ralph Lauren in the future and be a stately successor of the all-American style. This season, the designer reimagines leisure and athletic apparel from the 1770s-1970s, and muses on sports and recreation being vital to our understanding of virtue, community, and history. Fantastic lace pieces were appliquéd with figures playing sports. There were colorful lurex sweaters decorated with field hockey sticks, knitted cardigans with intarsia basketball players, and a particularly elegant white silk jacquard with a tonal football print. The inspiration also manifested itself in more practical ways; like the handsome dark gray three piece suit; the waterproof, super-light zip jacket and matching pants decorated with patches; or the simple, unlined wool jacket inspired by the kind that football players wear to stay warm on the bench. Elsewhere even simple knit sweaters and t-shirts inspired by the design of hockey or football jerseys proved just as special.

Autumn 2024 also marks the third outing for Bode Aujla’s dedicated womenswear collection, and it’s worth noting that it’s developing into something pretty remarkable. Between the beaded 1920s slip dresses, the lavishly embellished knits and bra tops, the 1930s-inspired bias cut chiffon dresses, and super delicate (and super sexy) silk underpinnings and matching pointelle tank tops and panties, a sense of real pleasure and indulgence permeates her women’s clothes. Lately, there’s been lots of conversations regarding the ways in which women designers approach making clothes for women; oftentimes, the focus is on the fact that they design for women’s “real lives” meaning wearable, meaning comfortable, meaning suited for a wide range of bodies. Beyond all this, Bode Aujla is also tapping into women’s fantasies; their desire to wear beautiful things just for themselves. If anyone happens to join in their fun, well, that’s a bonus.

And here are couple of Bode goodies that have caught my eye lately…

ED’s SELECTION

Oslo Fair Isle Intarsia Wool Cardigan

Brodie Jacquard-knit Alpaca-blend Sweater

Grenier Fringed Embroidered Silk-twill Jacket

Frog And Pony Cropped Flocked Striped Cotton-blend T-shirt

Corinthia Embroidered Silk-blend Crepe De Chine And Guipure Lace Chemise

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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‘Tis The Bode Season

November 5, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

CFDA Award winner Emily Adams Bode Aujla is making an impressive mark not only in menswear, but also in womenswear. The New York-based designer often uses unique, vintage textiles sourced from around the world to create one-of-a-kind pieces that tell a story and elicit emotion. Don’t miss the beautifully detailed Bode knitwear and jackets in this festive season edit!

BODE swan jacquard-knit wool cardigan

BODE fringed ead-embellished lace top

BODE intarsia wool sweater with a cow

BODE alpaca-blend jacquard sweater

BODE cold-shoulder ruffled crepon maxi dress

BODE swan appliquéd merino wool and cashmere-blend cardigan

BODE embellished quilted cotton-velvet vest

BODE zoo cotton-jersey t-shirt

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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A Feeling. Bode SS24

June 30, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Whether Emily Adams Bode Aujla shows her collections on a runway in Paris or as a lookbook, the New York-based designer always manages to capture a true feeling, a notion of a fleeting moment. For spring-summer 2024, Bode seeks inspiration in the Crane Estate, the residence in Massachusetts owned by an eccentric 90-year-old woman where her mother worked back in 1976. This appeared to be a perfect backdrop for Emily’s recently found obsession. Since her wedding last year, the designer is interested in investigating eveningwear. “It’s something that I’ve become quite passionate about because it’s really picked up for us,” she said. It’s evident in menswear pieces like the translucent-and-black all-over-sequin-embellished jacket, the navy blue suit with goldenrod crochet embroidery, and the white suit worn with a gorgeous blue and white striped pajama top with frog closures (you can also get the matching pants). It’s also apparent in pieces from her nascent womenswear line, like the sheer green dropped-waist dress studded with seed beads and the cream brocade midi-length jacket with three oversized satin bows for a closure. She called it a wedding jacket. “I love this idea,” Bode Aujla said. “I didn’t get to wear a vintage jacket like this for my wedding, but I thought that’s what I would wear. In my head, after the ceremony, this is what you put on; or maybe it’s worn at the courthouse wedding.” She continued, “Or you could wear this with black tuxedo trousers and have a really elevated evening look that’s not a dress. I could easily put that in men’s, but I think I wanted this and I think our girl wants this.” Although women have been buying and wearing Bode since the beginning, womenswear officially debuted last season in Paris. Those who expected it to look exactly like the menswear but with a slightly different fit were in for a surprise; the range is decidedly sexy. This came across in the knit panties and matching T-shirts, tanks, and bralettes; in dusty blue crochet dresses, and in the thin-as-air fish-print printed caftans. The designer added, “people commented about this on our runway show too. A lot of people expected it to be one way, and it’s like, the Bode woman compliments the Bode guy, she is not the Bode guy.”

Dream A Little Dream Of Me. Bode AW23

January 23, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

For autumn-winter 2023, Bode is back on the runway, and back in Paris. But there’s also a debut coming from Emily Adams Bode Aujla: a gorgeous womenswear line. At the Theatre du Chatelet, her American family storytelling took place. The models came out of the house and walked stage left, close enough so that every detail of the embroidery and embellishment could be appraised close up. There was a lot of it, and it looked great, from edging men’s suits to decorated with gold and green beads flapper dresses. The Bode program notes spoke about how the designer looked for inspiration to her mother’s side of the family – the four Rice sisters. Janet, her mom, had a college job in the 1970s on the Crane Estate at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, with a 90-year-old lady who kept to the old social formalities of her class, and would descend for dinner in dresses which went back to the 1890s through the 1940s. Somehow, that story got mixed up with Emily’s memories of family life, from every day dressing to celebrations over the years. By the time a dress came out that was clearly a Christmas tree, hung with baubles, the Parisian crowd was won over. Most of all, the success of the show was to prove what a range Bode has as a brand. The gliterry shimmy dresses apart, she also pulled out some drop-dead American-glamour 1930s/‘40s evening dresses in emerald green sequins or red velvet. On top of that, her all-gendered, novelty-type knits are already real stand-outs in stores. If Ralph Lauren is looking for a successor, Emily Bode Aujla is the right person to reach out to.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Personal. Bode SS23

December 28, 2022December 28, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

For spring-summer 2023, Emily Adams Bode Aujla continued to explore 29 Clinton Street – the apartment in the Lower East Side where she founded her brand. But whereas last season she had sought inspiration in the memories of the space, the things she collected, and the parties she threw, this time she focused on something more abstract: the feeling of home itself. “We really honed in on more of the concept of the interior, the feeling of comfort from the old apartment,” she said on a frigid morning in her studio in Brooklyn. “There’s a lot more knits, crochets, and pajamas.” Not actually meant to be worn while sleeping, the pajama sets have become something of a staple for the designer for a few seasons. “I have always made pajamas, but I feel like people really started gravitating towards them after the wedding collection,” she said. A set in cream came adorned with white piping cord embroidery detail, and was worn with a white and cream crochet vest over it. Other versions in lavender (worn with a purple striped crochet polo) and a white-on-black windowpane check (worn with Bode’s take on a souvenir shirt, emblazoned with a map print) showed the versatility of the idea. Another set in the form of a hunter green velvet track-style jacket and matching trousers had the same ease as pajamas, but was made for those who may need to actually dress up for work. It was worn with a shirt and tie underneath. Adams Bode Aujla’s knitwear was a standout this season, especially the floral intarsia cardigans with latticed edges, and the breezy open crochet navy polo with red and white stripes, and another crochet cardigan in orange with white crochet appliqué flowers. Many of these were inspired by pieces from the designer’s vintage archive, but remade with comfortable, breathable yarns, “so they won’t itch and won’t combust.” She embraced her love of novelty items with a sweater that read EVERYONE NEEDS SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN RIGHT NOW I BELIEVE I’LL HAVE ANOTHER BEER, alongside a variety of horse-themed items: a short-sleeve button-down shirt with red piping, and an intarsia knit sweater and pants set in royal blue with yellow stripes. It makes sense that she is indulging in all the things that are so close and personal to her; next season she will return to Paris to stage a show, her first one since 2020.