How the Familiar Just Got Fresh:
Getting to Know Emily Bode, the Coolest Woman in Menswear
In two short years, Emily Bode has created the most talked about menswear brand in New York, one whose synthesis of vintage, deadstock fabrics, sensible-yet-progressive silhouettes, intricate embroidery and dash of romanticism is the freshest thing we’ve seen in a long time. And as someone who grew up immersed in the business of vintage, she’s been able to infuse that same narrative quality into something cool and new. On the heels of her CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund nomination, Josh Peskowitz sits down with Emily to talk about the catalyst for her brand, her design philosophy and why New York will always be home.
Josh Peskowitz: So let’s start at the beginning. Where are you from originally?
Emily Bode: I was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia so I grew up in the South and began antiquing when I was a kid with my mother and my aunts. Both sides of my family are from Massachusetts originally, so I grew up spending all of my summers in Cape Cod, a little town in Massachusetts. After a year in Switzerland, I came to New York to Parsons and did a dual degree program, in philosophy at Eugene Lang and menswear at Parsons.
JP: After school, who’d you work for? I know you started the brand early, but there must have been someone?
EB: Yeah, a little bit. Throughout college I worked in special projects and collaborations at Marc Jacobs, I did Rough Wear at Ralph Lauren, and then I did a lot of freelance. When I finished my fashion degree, I was recruited by a lot of larger corporations so I spent that year traveling around to all of their campus offices all over America. But I knew I wanted to start my own brand ever since I was little and I think that process really made me realize that. I really didn’t want to just work in a corporate environment.
JP: Fair enough.
Emily Bode: I was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia so I grew up in the South and began antiquing when I was a kid with my mother and my aunts. Both sides of my family are from Massachusetts originally, so I grew up spending all of my summers in Cape Cod, a little town in Massachusetts. After a year in Switzerland, I came to New York to Parsons and did a dual degree program, in philosophy at Eugene Lang and menswear at Parsons.
JP: After school, who’d you work for? I know you started the brand early, but there must have been someone?
EB: Yeah, a little bit. Throughout college I worked in special projects and collaborations at Marc Jacobs, I did Rough Wear at Ralph Lauren, and then I did a lot of freelance. When I finished my fashion degree, I was recruited by a lot of larger corporations so I spent that year traveling around to all of their campus offices all over America. But I knew I wanted to start my own brand ever since I was little and I think that process really made me realize that. I really didn’t want to just work in a corporate environment.
JP: Fair enough.
EB: Up until I launched my brand, I was buying for a small boutique in Manhattan. I grew up buying—and my mother as well—buying mostly antique and vintage clothing and I always have this response to the stories of vintage, how it’s one-of-a-kind, and the way that there was a past history to things. It informed the way I made clothes—being a young person wearing my mother’s clothes, that she had bought as vintage, and then continuing that on.
