In a fact that will surprise nobody who knows Emily Adams Bode Aujla or follows her elegantly nostalgic work, the Bode designer grew up making parade floats every Fourth of July. “They were quite elaborate,” she recalled with a laugh on Thursday morning. Bode Aujla was in the final stages of styling out the Bode Rec. Spring 2025 runway show—not at New York Fashion Week, but in New Orleans, at the inaugural GQ Bowl. Her suite at the historic Hotel Peter and Paul in the Big Easy’s Marigny district was filled with rails of green silk sashes and crisp tiger-print cotton tees; next door, in an airy cathedral on the hotel grounds, crews were crafting Bode Aujla’s latest parade float, a 15-foot-tall champagne coupe covered in paper pomping flowers installed in the apse of the former Irish Catholic church.
Bode Aujla’s first fashion show in two years was clearly shaping up to be one of the nine-year-old brand’s biggest—and most elaborate—spectacles. Fitting, given that it was taking place on the eve of the biggest weekend in sports. We don’t yet know whether the Chiefs or Eagles will march triumphantly through the streets of their respective downtown cities in a few weeks’ time, but here, Bode Aujla was preparing for her very own “victory parade,” as she called Friday night’s show.
The two-time CFDA American Menswear Designer of the Year rose to the top of the men’s fashion pile with her imaginative treatment of historical dress and the way she turns memento and pageantry into elegant, contemporary clothing. With football on her mind, this season she studied parade culture, specifically the midcentury homecoming parades of small-town high schools and colleges, and the carnivalesque traditions of Mardi Gras season. Supermodel Lucky Blue Smith would be arriving shortly to try on the show’s opening look, a black tropical wool bandleader coat adorned with antique bouillon flowers: “To me he’s the reimagining of a homecoming king,” Bode Aujla told me.
Many of Bode Aujla’s peers tend to tiptoe around (or reject wholeheartedly) Americana aesthetics, seeing prep and varsity motifs as too winsome or perhaps too politically messy. Bode Aujla, on the other hand, can skillfully pull out threads from this shared history that feel inviting, even glamorous. A handsome braided shawl-collar robe was based on a podium jacket worn by an Olympian in the 1930s; Bode Aujla used a creamy waffle cotton thermal fabric to construct a casually cool rowing blazer.
And what’s more Americana—in all of its shades—than football? At the GQ Bowl, a roster of NFL stars were set to make their runway debuts, including league-leading wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and CeeDee Lamb. “That was such an important part of this, to be able to have athletes embody the Bode universe, because athletes are a huge part of our brand,” Bode Aujla said. Bode Rec., the arm of Bode that leans into athleticwear, including their buzzy crossover with Nike, was a perfect match. “To be able to show Bode Rec. on them is very inspiring.” Worn by today’s gridiron gods, the practice jerseys, hearty sweats, and SEC-sideline-staple blazers—all embellished with Bode’s charming signature antique-y detailing—look unexpectedly fresh.
