Just before flying to Paris to begin several seasons of inspiration and work, Emily Adams Bode Aujla—or simply Emily—was at home celebrating her birthday. Like any birthday, it was a good moment to reflect on Bode, her fashion brand, and the family that runs this family business. That family has grown and moved around, as Emily noted while recounting the home team’s quick progression from Chinatown to Greenwich Village, and then to a second place in Greenwich Village within just a few years.
“You have to realize,” Emily said around that time, “that along with all these moves, we got a dog. I got pregnant and had a baby—a girl. Then I got pregnant again. We needed to move for various reasons, including that we were going to have another baby, a boy, and then we got another dog right before he was born.”
It’s worth noting that the dogs aren’t just any dogs. They’re wirehaired pointing griffons—cheerful, gigantic hunting dogs that, instead of hunting, are burly, slobbering socializers. They add to the logistical demands of parenthood, which is partly why, when we spoke—while she had two children under two—she was momentarily drinking coffee, a slight embarrassment for her.
“I’m from the South, so I’m an iced tea drinker,” she lamented. “I don’t want to rely on coffee!” For Emily, coffee dates back to college in the early 2010s, when late-night caffeine fueled her first ideas for men’s clothing. Those ideas later became Bode, which started in her Lower East Side apartment. That story now feels like ancient history: In 2016, she began exploring the family traditions that inspired her—her roots are in New England as well as the Piedmont region better known as Atlanta—alongside the historic American craft traditions that fascinated her. She eventually began collaborating with her now-husband and business partner, Aaron Aujla.
As the couple welcomed two children and their accompanying griffons (the first a gift from Emily’s mom, the second their own idea, believe it or not)—and as she pushed back against naysayers who advised against making shirts from vintage quilts or pants from gorgeous deadstock fabrics or decorated with buttons discovered in a closed-up Midwestern warehouse—the family business grew alongside the family. Bode has become a global brand with an ever-growing list of stores in the U.S. and overseas.
During a visit to their house not long after they moved in, I asked Emily to reflect on how things had changed from just a few years earlier, when the world wondered if she’d ever launch a women’s collection—until she showed reimagined bolero jackets, gowns, and sheer dresses that bridged past and present. At the time, she and Aaron had just opened an LA store (there are now also two in New York and one in Paris) and gotten married in the Connecticut country house that Aujla had recently renovated with Benjamin Bloomstein, his partner in Green River Project, the interior design firm and furniture maker.
Looking back, she is almost surprised. “What’s wildly changed is that now we’re venturing into different parts of the world in a way we had never done before, while at the same time we’re getting our feet even more grounded here,” she says. “It’s kind of like this bizarre juxtaposition, right? We’re growing our nuclear family here, but our fingers are reaching into different parts of the world.”
The second thing she reflects on is her life in general, which, here at the Bode home base, seems all-encompassing—even panoramic—in terms of both living creatures and all the inanimate objects that hold memories and associations, inspiring and compelling her. Today, Emily’s schedule includes that birthday party (she’s 36, a Gemini) as well as preparing the children for Mom’s imminent trip to Paris. They are aided by a team, also present…The household includes two grandmothers who help care for Emily and Aaron’s children: Bibhutibhushan (Bibhuti for short), who was nearly two at the time and named after the Bengali writer whose work was adapted by filmmaker Satyajit Ray—a director both Emily and Aaron admire—and Indus, who was just four months old. While Emily doesn’t specify, Indus is likely the reason for the extra caffeine. “You know, getting up at the crack of dawn with the baby…,” she hints.
Then there are the dogs: Monday and Tuesday, who trot along happily together and feel as big as the rest of the week combined. “We spend a lot of time with family,” Emily says.
That family time suits a family business—Bode is run by Emily, Aaron, and Aaron’s brother, Dev—and it also fuels their creativity. Take the Spring 2026 collection, which debuted in Paris shortly after Emily’s birthday. It pays tribute to Bill Charlap, a Grammy-winning jazz pianist and extended relative by marriage. His father, Moose Charlap, composed the 1954 Broadway hit Peter Pan and the 1966 live musical Alice Through the Looking Glass. Bill, who is married to Aaron’s aunt, shared stories of his father’s era, giving Emily glimpses of 1950s Paris and New York that inspired the collection.
The resulting salon-fashion show was classic Bode, breaking the usual rules of Paris fashion week. When a photographer arrived early at the Théâtre National de l’Opéra-Comique and asked where the models were, they were surprised to learn the clothes were displayed on 12-inch-tall dolls—more like a series of maquettes, a film, or a Bode-style theater of everyday life. The looks spanned multiple seasons, allowing ideas room to evolve. “I do think that’s the beauty of the way Aaron and I work,” Emily says. “We want to create a world where we can dive deeper into what inspires us—spending years researching and working with materials or techniques we love, exploring them in many different forms.”
Instead of a runway walk, Bill Charlap took the stage, reflecting on craft—a central theme for Bode—while playing piano. He transformed a simple tune into something magnificent, lighting up faces like Maggie Rogers’ in the audience. “Craft is where it’s all at,” Charlap said.
For Bode, this meant exploring the Paris of Moose Charlap’s time. The dolls served as sketches, and among the pieces they inspired was a flapper dress referencing the Bal Bullier, a Belle Époque dance hall famously captured by Sonia Delaunay in 1913. The dress is meticulously detailed with bronze beads and crystal rhinestones, like wearable architecture. A gilt jacket features a wide collar embroidered with Ottoman-era gold bullion—discovered on an old towel—and a grosgrain ribbon tie. The Velvet Bannister Dress, with rows of hand-applied velvet ribbon, evokes 1880s Paris.
The home, where two dogs and two children roam freely, is filled with collected and custom-made pieces by Green River Project. Prussian blue chintz curtains and robin’s-egg blue walls nod to late French decorator Madeleine Castaing; the curtains date to the 1850s, with hand-block-printed florals over a roller-printed striped ground. In Bibhuti’s room, the bed’s headboard is a hand-painted river valley—a memento from a departed friend and antiques dealer—surrounded by blue-dyed, embroidered French muslin Cornely curtains. (Bibhuti sleeps in a crib; the bed is for a grandmother.) In the sitting room, a black-piano-lacquered Green River Project piece stands before a 1920s mural salvaged from an old Brooklyn theater.A project table strikes up a conversation with a Frank Lloyd Wright lamp. Overhead, paper garlands of foldable lanterns and honeycomb fruit from 1950s Japan and Denmark dangle above a British Art Deco carpet in a cool green shade that both Emily and Aaron adore.
A long Green River table that made the move from Chinatown is surrounded by decommissioned Bengali government office cabinets lining the walls, displaying more keepsakes: tea cups from Eric Wrenn; various antique Alsatian yellowware plates and terrines; a Savoyard pitcher from the 1890s; a souvenir book made from a shell, containing seaweed specimens from a maritime disaster; and a pair of hand-painted cloth dolls from India. “Complete with mirror-work and miniature jewelry,” Emily notes. The blue Art Deco chairs are beloved by everyone, human and otherwise—the dogs, naturally, being the elephants in the room. “They’re good in the house,” Aaron says. “I mean, things get destroyed—often. But there’s nothing too fussy.”
“Bibhuti likes to crawl up here, like, mid-dinner,” Emily says, tracing the path up the sofa, “and then she rubs her head here. And Monday and Tuesday do the same thing—I mean, what are you going to do?” The fabric expert reflects on how inanimate objects absorb memories. “They just kind of disappear into the textile, and it becomes lived in.”
Aaron’s design mantra for the Bode stores revolves around simplicity (“How would this room come to be if it was 1925?”), while at home he works around his wife’s ever-growing vintage collections. “We’re so intertwined at this point,” he says. For Emily, blending home and work was always the goal. “I haven’t changed,” she says. “I always knew I wanted to have kids, and I was building my business in a way that I thought might last for generations—those are my hopes and dreams.”
Just before a visitor leaves, they notice the tent: child-sized and homemade, inspired by Emily’s late aunt, who once made one for a grandson. “I wanted to make it like a circus tent,” Emily explains, and so she did, using fabric from her clothing designs and vintage trim. “It’s got a really nice red glow inside,” she adds. “Tuesday loves to go inside the tent with Bibhuti—and Bibhuti, of course, thinks that’s the most fantastic thing. Bibhuti and Tuesday are best friends.” Emily plans to add to the tent, repair it when needed, keep it for a long time—and eventually pass it on.
In this story: hair and makeup by Allie Smith.
Produced by CLM.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about Emily Adams Bode and her growing family designed to sound like questions from a real person
About Emily Her Family Life
Q Who is Emily Adams Bode
A Shes the founder and creative director of the acclaimed fashion label Bode Shes known for designing oneofakind heirloomquality clothing using vintage textiles and she was the first female designer to show at New York Mens Fashion Week
Q Is Emily Bode married Does she have kids
A Yes She is married to Aaron Aujla a cofounder of the design firm Green River Project They have a son Angus who was born in 2022
Q What is At Home With Emily Adams Bode about
A This refers to interviews and features that give a glimpse into her personal life her beautifully curated home in New York and how she balances her demanding career with motherhood
Q Where does she live
A She and her family live in a historic townhouse in New York Citys West Village which she shares with her husband and son
Career Motherhood
Q How has becoming a mother changed her approach to design or her brand
A Shes spoken about it making her more efficient and focused While Bode isnt a kids brand motherhood has influenced her perspective on legacy storytelling and creating pieces meant to be passed downthemes that were always present but now feel more personal
Q Does she design childrens clothes for Bode
A Not officially as a collection but she has created custom miniature versions of her iconic pieces for her son Angus which are often shared in personal features
Q How does she balance running a major fashion label with a young family
A She emphasizes having a strong support system including her husband and team and the importance of setting boundaries Shes also mentioned integrating Angus into her world sometimes bringing him to the studio
Home Lifestyle
Q Whats the style of her home like
A Its a warm layered and eclectic mix of ant