Bode Rec. and Nike Herald American Sportswear History in First Collaboration

Two-time CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year winner Emily Adams Bode Aujla revealed her first collaboration with Nike in her Fall 2024 lookbook earlier this year. The team-up — a bucket-list accomplishment for the vintage-inspired designer — aligned with the announcement of Bode Rec., the fashioner’s new division of activewear that looks to highlight sport’s influence in America.

“I’ve done collaborations that were more about technology, or competition-based,” Bode told Vogue. “But I really wanted to do our first brand partnership with Nike, so I held out [for them]. The foundational story of Nike has always been so inspiring to me.”

The partnership began to materialize almost two and a half years ago when Bode visited the Nike DNA archives at the brand’s Oregon headquarters. There, she witnessed the sportswear giant’s late co-founder Bill Bowerman’s path-forging portfolio in product development, which galvanized the creation of the Bode Rec. x Nike Astrograbber. The sneaker — arriving in both a “Black” colorway with athletics-inspired bronze charms and a “Natural” tone with campier plastic decorations — riffs on the 1970s model of the same name, which was crafted with a waffle outsole for better play on astroturf.

Much of the collaboration’s historical touchstones are dated between the 18th and 20th centuries. “We started with the 1770s, actually earlier in 1756 with the Manhattan and Cape Cod boat race, then went up to the 1970s, which was a hugely influential time when television and full-time athletes shaped sports as we know it today,” she told WWD.

The aforementioned boat race became the starting point for jerseys with appliqués reading “Cape Cod” and “Manhattan,” with interchangeable pins featuring clams and bows. 1970s hockey jerseys, meanwhile, inspired striped wool sweaters with embroidered Swoosh motifs, and a striped dickey nods to the 1922 Olympics (the first of which women were allowed to compete in) with velvet ribbons, milliner’s flowers and green laurel beading. Elsewhere, the lineup includes spirited pinnies, functional track pants and jogging shorts signed with “Bode” lettering across the front.

The Bode Rec. x Nike collection will launch on April 18 via Bode’s webstore. Take a look at the line in the gallery above.