The [blue logo] sweater I loved because it’s a nod to, like, a souvenir sweatshirt of a soda company. So not necessarily trying to be logo-centric in that way. It just felt natural as we were designing this collection.
Our customers enjoy it because nothing else is really branded, so to have an Anorak or a zip-up Bermuda rain jacket, it totally makes sense to have it branded. I’m less a fan of branding on button-down shirts. We don’t do too many T-shirts. So I think we’re still very much not a logo-centric brand.
When you started the brand a couple of years ago, was this always the dream to work up to a runway show in Paris?
People are asking that, like, “Was it a dream to show in Paris?” I don’t know. It’s hard to think about. I mean, of course it would be a dream, but it’s not… I think it’s just a dream to be where we are in general. I think it’s part of our growth as a brand. I don’t think that it’s because it’s Paris, I think it’s because the menswear culture we’re in right now and the way that the buyers and press are buying and talking about companies and menswear brands.
What do you mean when you talk about the current menswear culture?
I think it’s just gone through a few different iterations. Different brands focus obviously on different methods of selling and structuring their business. But for us, I thoroughly enjoy selling direct to consumer and having our private clients and a large part of that comes, which is kind of ironic in a way, but it comes from having wholesale. So the larger our wholesale, is the more private clients we have. And it’s working right now, so I want to continue to sell to all of these partners.
Do you think it’s a good time to be in the business of selling menswear?
Yeah. I mean, I don’t know if you were to look at the McKinsey report with Business of Fashion or something. But I think as long as you have a really strong story to tell and you are really intense in telling that story, I think you could be successful at whatever brand you start.
Yeah, it finally seems—and this is how it’s been in womenswear for a long time—like there’s room for every sort of brand to breathe. Off-White can thrive and, on the other end of the spectrum, so can Bode.
That’s something that I’ve learned going through this competition with the CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund and now LVMH. You go to these events where you see, like Donna Karan saying hi to Tom Ford or something and you’re like, Okay, they all exist. Or her and Ralph Lauren. There’s room for so many brands. You just have to have a really intentional narrative. And it’s not necessarily a competition.
Article written by Cam Wolf #GQ
