While many designers are opting for scaled-back and smaller runway shows this season, Emily Bode Aujla took that path in an entirely different direction, eschewing a traditional parade of models altogether.
Instead, she created an intimate, mise-en-scène in miniature, with her collection presented as tiny knitted sweaters, tailored shirts, shorts, shoes, suits and caftans on handcrafted dolls in the vestibule of a Parisian theater.
Inside the neo-Baroque rooms, intricate and delicate dioramas showed scenes from the life of Morris “Moose” Charlap, the American composer whose music has inspired Bode’s recent work. They depicted key moments in Moose’s life, including his childhood summer camp where he got his nickname and his favorite spot in New York’s Central Park, where he would relax before shows.
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Dolls inside these scenes were dressed in looks from Bode’s collection.
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It was a whimsical and delightful breath of fresh air in the middle of a hot fashion week.
The collection, titled “The Expressionist,” is a continuation of Bode’s tribute to Charlap, best known for composing the score to Broadway’s “Peter Pan” in the golden age of musical theater. He died at 45 of complications from diabetes.
To honor Moose’s work, Bode Aujla invited Charlap’s son, Bill Charlap, to play a few of his father’s songs to the audience. While Bill reminded the audience he was “not a singer,” he sang the tunes and tickled the ivories in between sharing the histories behind Moose’s song as well as stories from his childhood.
One particularly poignant memory recalled a trip to Paris one year before Moose’s death. “Each turn of a corner in Paris brings a memory,” Charlap told the audeince, illustrating the deep personal resonance of the location and the tribute.
“Moose had a really wonderful capability of capturing the essence of what it meant to be a child and what it meant to have a childhood and that turning point before you become an adult,” said Bode Aujla. She tried to capture that wonder in the doll collection.
Bode Aujla said when setting up the scene, her cousin and current intern reminded her of the clothes she used to sew for their dolls as children.
“It kind of came full circle,” she said. “It’s always been a passion of mine, and also I think it’s a really wonderful way to be able to bring this collection in a new light.”
The collection has been on display in her Paris showroom. “The buyers already saw the clothes, and they can see it online,” she told WWD. “This is just a way to really get to become a child again.”
Bode held a runway show in Paris two and a half years ago, and opened her first boutique here during fashion week in March with an intimate cocktail party. The New York-based designer continues to feel a pull to the city but approach it in an unconventional way.
Bode’s spring 2026 presentation was enchanting and expanded the emotional potential of a fashion show.