On Track 23 of Taylor Swift's recently released 31-track double album, The Tortured Poets Department/The Anthology, the pop idol opens up about a slightly existential game that she plays with her friends: “We would pick a decade we wished we could live in instead of this.”
It has become one of the project's greatest talking points—provoking conversations online (and beyond) about the pros and cons of living during different historical eras. Swift elects for the 1830s, but others could never be so definitive. Just look to Emily Adams Bode Aujla, the NYC fashion designer known for taking inspiration from multiple time periods at once.
For her soon-to-drop collaboration with Nike, for instance—her first partnership with a brand, and the first collection to drop under Bode Rec., her label's brand-new sporty sub-line—she was simultaneously influenced by the 1750s and the 1970s whilst figuring out ways to reinstate a spirit of playfulness into the Swoosh for summer '24.
The invisible string that connects them? American sports. On one side of the mood board, a boat race between a Cape Cod periauger and a Manhattan whaler that took place in the New York Harbor in 1756; 1970s American football athletes on the other.
As expected, footwear is at the forefront of the Bode Rec. x Nike collection.
The sportswear giant and the sentimental luxury set-up kick things off with two colourways of a single silhouette that Bode Aujla happened upon in the Department of Nike Archives. A 50-year-old waffle-sole model that has never been reissued... until now, that is.
It's called the Astro Grabber because it was developed in response to the introduction of synthetic turf on American Football fields.
Bode has refashioned the shoe for the streets.
The 'black and coconut milk' pair boasts a buttery leather upper and comes with two lace charms.
The 'light cream and black' pair is crafted from canvas and comes with five lace charms.
Both are adorned with a Bode wordmark on the tongue and the insole and packaged inside a Bode Rec. box that's distinguishable by its transparent lid, ribbon adornment, striped tissue paper and use of a cream and khaki green colour combination. The lace charms are packed in a khaki green suede pouch embellished with gold Bode branding.
A team of winning Bode Rec. x Nike garments join the Astro Grabbers.
The most valuable players are the 'Cape Cod' and 'Manhattan' mesh jerseys which are finished with removable clamshell pins, and the training trousers trimmed with rope embroidery and hand-threaded beads.
Also look out for the thermal trousers, adjustable lacing knits, retro bibs, dual-branded striped shorts, and the relaxed-fit training jacket—all pieces that share similarities with togs discoverable in Bode Aujla's own wardrobe.
You see, unlike Swift, this superstar has been in her American sports era for aeons.
The first Bode Rec. x Nike collection launched on Wednesday, 1 May.
The Bode Rec. x Nike collection drops on the Nike SNKRS app, End and Slam Jam via raffles, as well as at Dover Street Market (online and in-store).
You can also cop pieces on StockX.
The recommended retail prices of the Bode Rec. x Nike collection sit between approximately SGD170-597. Here is the full price breakdown, do note that these are estimate figures.
The 'light cream and black' pair runs from a UK3 to a UK14.
The 'black and coconut milk' pair runs from a UK3.5 to a UK14.
Nike suggests opting for a bigger size—at least a half-size up, or, if your feet are on the wider side, a full-size up.
