Why Emily Adams Bode Is Taking Her All-American Brand to Japan

American brand Bode arrives in Japan. Founder Emily Adams Bode Aujla, whose brand is known for its wholesome, grandpa-chic aesthetic and repurposing vintage textiles, is branching out with an embassy-inspired store in Tokyo, its first standalone retail store in Asia.

“It’s such a perfect moment,” Bode Aujla said from her home in New York, just days before she was to fly to the store’s opening. Her tone suggests modesty, but she’s right: The timing is ideal for a well-known brand like Bode to open a store in Tokyo for a number of reasons. The yen is at multi-decade lows, discouraging local consumers from traveling abroad while attracting record numbers of foreign shoppers and giving foreign businesses more real estate purchasing power.

Bode is known for its wholesome, grandpa-chic aesthetic.

Photo: Courtesy of Bode

U.S. tariffs have also accelerated the brand’s focus on expanding its retail presence. “I think our international customers may be more concerned or conservative about shopping now,” she said. “I can’t speak for them, but I can imagine it would be very exciting to be able to see the clothes in person without having to ship them halfway around the world.” Bode’s collections span women’s and men’s wear, with prices ranging from $280 for an embroidered T-shirt to more than $2,000 for a suit. The brand also offers one-of-a-kind pieces made from vintage fabrics, as well as corduroy or suede jackets with hand-painted details—most recently designed by Jacob Elordi—that are currently only on a waitlist.

The designer said Bode has a large following in Asia and hopes the Tokyo store will allow consumers from neighboring regions to buy the brand. But why Tokyo and not Shanghai or Seoul? “When I first launched the brand [in 2016] I once wrote an article new york timesand there was immediate interest from wholesale customers in Japan,” said Bode Aujla. “They really connected with the product and understood it right away, whereas it took me a minute to establish myself in the U.S. wholesale market. “The brand quickly won over a number of Japanese stockists in its first two years and has eight wholesale accounts in the country.