Emily Adams Bode is a whisperer of vintage textiles, from 1900s mattress covers to delicate table linens, lush bath towels and monogrammed bedsheets from the '50s and '60s.

For her latest collection, she was inspired by a trip to the south of France, where she discovered a relative's "grenier," or attic. An uncle once lived there, along with his grandmother before him.

"The attic is symbolic of a space of protection, of memories of yesteryear," said Bode, who launched her Bode New York last July. "As I was in France I drove around for around two weeks and collected a bunch of antique textiles, so 90 percent of the collection is cut from one-of-a-kind textiles."

Best known for her work in vintage quilts, this season - for her third collection - Bode incorporated old tapestries and chintz, the latter for a short-sleeved button-down shirt with a huge leafy tree on the back. White trousers cut from a sheet had a red monogram on one leg matching one on the bed where the model reclined. Bode's show space was filled with beds for models to pose on.

So why vintage textiles? Bode has sought them since she was a girl in Atlanta.

"A lot of them are labors of love, and to reincorporate that into clothing that is worn every day, it can be cherished again," she said.

The story of each is important to Bode.

"I grew up antiquing with my mother and my aunts so I think I've always been drawn to historical textiles," she said.

Bode sourced more than 100 pieces for the show, stripes and checks among them, others white and still others in bold pinks, yellows and greens. She mixed patterns and did include some quilted pieces. The linens, though, stood out. One pair of pink and white trousers was patterned in white flowers with red leaves. Another model wore clam diggers made from a flour sack. A third had on a stunning tapestry jacket with a grande dame on the pocket.

"I try not to cut quilts or textiles that are pristine or perfect," Bode said. "If I feel like I don't want to cut it we save it or sell it to a dealer who's going sell it to somebody for their home."

Bode, 28, has been using some dealers since she was a kid.

"In Cape Cod I have this one dealer who's in his late 80s named Homer who I still buy from, and he saves things for me," she said. "He gets excited. I send him my look books."

-Leanne Italie

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