For spring, Emily Adams Bode Aujla continued to explore American athletic wear, which she began looking at last season with the launch of a secondary line, Bode Recreation, and a hugely successful collaboration with Nike. To start, she was thinking about a kind of “beach pajama,” inspired by the garments that people wore to the beach before swimsuits—which beginning in the 19th century included long tunics worn over trousers. Bode Aujla did a version in French striped cotton, but the idea of a simple tunic and pants runs throughout the collection in various fabrications and iterations, including embroidered silk chiffon tunics in boxy 1920s shapes, wispy tank tops worn with skirt/pant combos, and even a sequin-striped double-breasted mid-length jacket worn with matching trousers. Other nods to sports were present in her now-signature appliquéd Bode team jerseys and shorts, along with tennis skirts and retro-inspired bodysuits. Sailor shirts made from a heavy cotton featured darling illustrations, based on a vintage piece she acquired some years ago.
Elsewhere, the big news are her fabrics—cotton t-shirts in the finest, thinnest cotton you can possibly imagine, sporty terry cloth sets, knitted cotton tanks with the same hand feel as vintage wool, chunky cardigans made with a ribbon crafting technique, sumptuous studded suede jackets, and all manner of embroideries, bedazzling, and decoration. Though she’s long established an idiosyncratic point of view for her menswear, it’s most exciting to see the places where she takes her womenswear, which is not just the same Bode menswear styles cut for women, but its own thing. There are tiny cotton shorts with even tinier bikini tops for the young and daring, and funky Western-inspired shirts for the adventurous, along with wardrobe essentials like soft cashmere sweaters and lots and lots of denim. Almost a decade in, having established her codes, Bode Aujla is stretching the notions of what we can expect from her. There’s a Bode piece for every person, and for every occasion, and that is a good thing.
