Bringing back bohemia with Emily Bode

6 Dec 2019

Founder of menswear brand Bode, Emily describes her own style as having a ‘boyish sensibility’ and claims her distance from the male gender gives her a clearer perspective on designing for her customer. Her approach certainly seems to be working, having been awarded Emerging Designer of the Year at the CFDA Fashion Awards, named finalist for the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers and listed as one of Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30.’ The Atlanta-born entrepreneur launched Bode in 2016, revealed her own retail space in New York’s Chinatown last month and now she’s opening her first pop-up in time for Art Basel Miami Beach.

ALT_TEXT — Ross Bailey & Emily Bode ©Appear Here

The three-day activation is part of the ‘Appear Here Presents’ series, which brings empty spaces to life for key cultural moments. For Emily, this was the perfect opportunity to make a statement in the right place at the right time: “We’ve never done any kind of activation in Miami and I’ve never been to Art Basel, but I know we have a lot of crossover with the art space, so we thought we’d try something new,” she said.

Centred around nostalgia, Emily quite literally weaves history into her garments, even including a note on where that particular fabric came from. Her pieces are timeless and bohemian, loved by those who like to play with rich textures, gender frames and layered colours. Emily channels her sentimentality for the past and an eye for standout materials when thrifting at flea markets, country houses and estate sales across the US and Europe.

Collaborating with Green River Project on the furniture and interior design for her stores, the new space reflects a typical 1920s Miami holiday. Emily also added in a personal touch with vintage pieces and pays homage to her heritage by displaying her own heirlooms. The collection includes African Country Cloth rugby shorts, lace shirts, intricate embroideries, quilted coats, custom corduroys and repurposed antique fabrics.

Her New York store has already been a huge success: “We made projections based on our e-commerce sales and we’ve surpassed those expectations by five times,” said Emily. If the Miami pop-up is successful as well, Emily will be taking her idea on tour appearing in new destinations for 2020 – fingers crossed.