Brand & Market Research
Brand Background and Philosophy:
Founded in 2016, Bode (pronounced Boh-dee) is the eponymous brand of Emily Adams Bode. Within two years Bode went from creating an ‘artists’ output of a few hand-made pieces a year to creating her first full sized collections. In 2018 she was awarded the runner up prize for the Vogue Fashion Fund and became the first female designer to show a full presentation at NYFW (New York Fashion Week) Men’s.
“Being innovative doesn’t mean coming up with new techniques. Fashion doesn’t always need to be new. We can look back.”
In 2019, having shown her first runway collection at Paris Fashion Week, Bode was awarded the CFDA Emerging Designer of the Year and placed on the Forbes 30 under 30 list in the “Arts & Style” category.
Design Direction & Aesthetic:
Bode best describes her core principles herself. “My goal was to make timeless male clothes inspired by female craft.” (Speaking to Financial Times 2020). To take traditional and craft techniques and reintroduce them in a contemporary way as mens clothing.
Favoured techniques in the Bode arsenal include Hand Embroidery, Painting/Illustration, Embellishment, Quilting/Patchwork and Appliqué.
All of the above are evident throughout her collections. Quilts from the 1940s transform into boxy workwear jackets. Antique laces and embroidered table clothes find themselves front and centre as her now signature Cuban collared shirts. Most recently her “Senior Cords” project (Photographed above), consisting of elaborately painted corduroy workwear and tailoring, has further brought the brand to the attention of the masses with a custom pair of trousers being worn by Harry Styles in Vogue.
“It’s just what felt natural to me. [using vintage fabrics] It was partly strategic, partly “I’m just going to do this and I hope that it works.” I didn’t necessarily set out to create a sustainable company”. “We try to only use fabrics that are too distressed to keep in the home”. “We invest time and effort into preserving and mending pieces with stains or holes or cigarette burns.”
Bella Hadid wearing Bode Senior Cord Project Jacket
With commercial growth (Up 300% from 2019-20) comes changes to Bodes business model.
Vintage fabrics are sourced via a network of dealers across the US, Europe and India
Not all the range is constructed from second hand fabrics. About 40% is still 1of1. A lot of the time, the original, vintage pieces become inspiration for a larger run
It's a very different way of designing, rather than saying this cloth becomes this shirt, we’re using reproduced fabrics, which means we can be imaginative and creative with different colour ways [and patterns].
Bode has a new focus on working with wool. This seasons best seller was a merino wool felt jacket mimicking the souvenir felt pennant quilts from the early 1900s.
- Financial Times
Market Position & Communication Strategies:
“My favourite boys . . . there are so many. Donald Glover. Jeremy O Harris. Harry Styles.”
Bode is on the stockists of multiple significant fashion retails. Including; Moda Operandi, Browns, Matches Fashion, Farfetch, and Bergdorf Goodman. The customer base is highly loyal and, interestingly for a menswear brand, roughly a 50/50 male/female split. For Bode, wholesale means more people buying and wearing Bode garments which intern has lead to a greater number of private and bespoke clients. “I thoroughly enjoy selling direct to the consumer and having private clients and a large part of that [ironically] comes from having wholesale”
Bode also sells through a flagship store in Chinatown New York that also serves as a studio and in-house factory. As for marketing a significant amount of brand awareness is raised through printed and digital media outlets (Vogue, The Financial Times, GQ and WWD) and through a high profile celebrity clientele.
Sources and Further Reading:
https://www.businessoffashion.com/amp/community/people/emily-adams-bode
https://amp.ft.com/content/e0ba4da2-eba1-474b-abc4-4e83e07f2360
https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/bode-woolmark?amp
https://www.gq.com/story/bode-spring-summer-2020-runway-interview/amp