The Education Of Benjamin Bloomstein sounds like a title straight out of a Wes Anderson film; and in aesthetic terms, if little else, the director and Emily Adams Bode create similarly winsome worlds. Years before Bloomstein and the designer became friends and collaborators (through his design studio, Green River Project LLC), he had an idiosyncratic upbringing that made him an obvious protagonist for the ongoing Bode narrative. Briefly, as related in the collection text, he attended schools in a former Shaker village and on a biodynamic farm; he wrote poetry and immersed himself in agriculture; and perhaps most pertinent, he figured out how to alter his school clothes so that they would feel more comfortable.
In adapting Bloomstein’s memories to her exploration of craft methods and sustainable values, Adams Bode delivered a collection that felt wonderfully dissonant with the mind’s perception of 2020 but completely relevant in message. The latest sentimental nods to the past (hello, oxymoron) included a quilted jacket and matching mittens that signaled outerwear from pre-puffer times; outfits covered in deadstock souvenir and achievement patches (apparently representing every decade of the 20th century); over shirts embroidered with farm animals and vintage athletic jerseys; delicate seed bead ornamentation and necklaces strung with hand-blown marbles.
Nearly four years into her brand, Adams Bode navigates the trap of historical costume by shaking up how she presents her repurposed and reproduced textiles and trims, be it the equine blankets that were the basis for the opening tailored look or the golden Appenzeller Gurt charms adorning various looks as well as the “Bode House Shoe” (a slipper style sturdy enough to wear outside). Adams Bode was among the finalists for this year’s Woolmark Prize, and she created an outstanding jacket covered in individual crochet fleurettes from Merino wool that was every bit couture-level.
For all her efforts to restore and preserve a bygone portrait of America, the designer’s sentimentality also turned quite playful this season. Can you spot the sweater featuring a wooden bead in the paws of the squirrel next to the words Bode Nuts? Or the zippered mouth of the corduroy bags shaped like fish? Or the sock puppets being worn as actual mittens? Here, it felt as though she was tapping into a childlike approach to creation suited to all ages.
Bloomstein, who could not attend the show owing to the arrival of a new baby, seemed to spark something quite meaningful for Adams Bode. Backstage, she noted how much she appreciates these kindred spirits who “have a true emotional connection and response with their environment and their domestic space and all of what shapes their life so much that it almost brings me to tears.”
