All of us at Put This On dig repurposed garments and vintage/one of a kind fabrics, so I was happy to read this recent New York Times piece on Bode (pronounced BOH-dee), a New York line that makes men’s shirts, jackets, and pants from found fabrics. The shapes are basic in a way that I appreciate–work-style shirt-collared jackets, straightforward straight leg trousers, simple button-front shirts.
The distinction is mostly in Bode’s choice of fabrics, which she sources from all over, going beyond the at-this-point-familiar (but still cool) strategy of cutting up thrift store clothes into new shapes, like in Needles’ Rebuild line. Like Rebuild, Bode’s pieces are never factory-line identical, because the source fabrics have their own idiosyncrasies. Some are truly one-offs though, as the fabric quantities are that small. The fabrics are less straight-up references to known menswear quantities like military jackets or Dickies–Bode’s recent designs have used vinyl cloth intended for outdoor furniture, mattress covers, and century-old quilts. The shirts and jackets seem relatively wearable to me in the same way that other brands with homemade aesthetics can be (like Kapital or Made by Grandma for Mafia)–maybe unsurprisingly one of Bode’s few retailers is United Arrows in Japan, where that look seems popular.
The prices, I have to admit, are in the Needles plus category, so it’s window shopping for me for now. But it’s nice to see someone taking this approach–appreciating unusual, purpose built textiles, applying a Parsons menswear education, and making wearable clothing for men that pushes the envelope a little.
Read more here. Visit Bode.
