Koos Van Den Akker
Encyclopedia
Koos Van Den Akker is a Dutch
-born fashion designer based New York City
, USA. He is famed for his unique collaged 'Koos' designed clothing and notably the creator of the 'Bill Cosby
' Sweaters.
After the two years Koos went to Paris to design window displays for the famous Galeries Lafayette
but realizing he needed more formal training, in 1961 he enrolled in L'Ecole Guerre Lavigne (l'Ecole Supérieure des Arts et techniques de la Mode, Esmod
) which was located in the same building as the Christian Dior
workrooms. Every year Christian Dior picked the most gifted students for an apprenticeship and in 1963 Koos was selected. After Three years at Dior and learning every detail about crafting beautiful clothes he moved back to Holland and started his own business opened up his first store in The Hague where he slept in a small room in the back. The window displays were lavish with chic and theatrical designs that enthralled onlookers with influences from American movies such as Carousel (film)
and Givenchy dressed Audrey Hepburn
. But Holland wasn't ready for Koos designs and anything glamorous or fashionable was shunned by Dutch Women so after his father's death in 1968 Koos took off to pursue the wondrous delights of the United States, in particular, New York.
From a sewing machine on a hotel bed and only $180 in the pocket Koos set up a string of stores including ones on Madison Avenue, Columbus Avenue, Thomson Street Soho, 10th on Bleeker and even one in Beverley Hills, LA. In the mid seventies he even had a wholesale line with a showroom where major upscale stores such as Bonwit Teller
, Saks Fifth Avenue
, Marshall Fields, Bloomingdale's
and Frost Bros.
bought their Koos supplies. Overspending and stagnating sales eventually led to a tax-debt of half a million dollar.
Currently Koos has a store at 1263 Madison Avenue, New York, his former location for decades and a studio in the Garment District.
Koos maintained a high profile in New York and LA where entertainers such as Julie & Harry Belafonte
, Cher
, Elizabeth Taylor
, Diahann Carroll and Barbara Walters
. After the success of the Bill Cosby
Sweaters his success was everywhere with more celebrities donning Koos garments with the likes of Stevie Wonder
, Chita Rivera
, Brook Shields, Isabella Rossellini
, Glenn Close
, Lauren Sutton and NBA stars Isaiah Thomas (basketball)
& Magic Johnson
.
In 1991 Koos' life-partner John Bell died of aids.
's connection and those wild collaged sweaters he wore on TV that established Koos' reputation with the rich and famous. Soon after Bill Cosby was seen sporting Koos' vibrant and inspiring sweaters, famed notables such as Erik Estrada, Chuck Norris, and Richard Simmons became obsessed with obtaining their very own Koos original sweaters.
More than anyone else Bill Cosby has been a fan and a friend of Koos, inspiring and supporting him through the good and the lean years. Josephine Premice, a singer in the 1980s and a good friend of Koos asked him to make a sweater for a present for Bill Cosby . She took it to the set of the Cosby Show where Bill immediately put in on and wore it for the taping. It was an instantaneous hit. Cosby, in his incredibly generous way began giving his friends presents made by Koos. Cosby invited friends to New York for a weekend to celebrate his wife Camille's birthday and he asked Koos to open the store on Sunday especially for his guests and told each of them to choose something they liked, many of them are still loyal customers today.
, Van Den Akker was able to proceed confidently with the fabric collages that have become his signature. Although his Koos garments recall the art-to-wear movement, they remain free of the sometimes heavy-handed messages inherent in the artifacts which seem more suitable for gallery walls—these masterpieces are meant to be worn and appreciated for their beauty.
Conservatively styled suits consisting of cardigan jackets and gored skirts might be covered with textured mixtures of fur, quilted fabric, leather strips, or pieces of wool. A dress of lace might be dramatized by bold appliqué. As many as six materials might be combined in collages of cotton, wool, furs, tweeds, sequins, and leather but all are carried out with a true designer's skill and artistic sensitivity. Indeed, van den Akker has admitted that the designs just flow, working themselves out through the process of creation, perhaps reflecting a hereditary affinity with Dutch national costume.
(CFDA)
His clothes were made of beautiful fabrics with colorful print and lace inserts, sometimes following the lines of the garments in harmony and balance, other times contrasting shapes versus line. Van den Akker collected a following among celebrities and much press from Vogue (magazine)
, Harper's Bazaar
, L'Officiel
, i-D
ad more recently Vice Magazine.
Van den Akker has been eager to share the joy he attains from his craft. Designer Christian Francis Roth was his apprentice for several years before venturing out on his own. In late 1989 van den Akker showed the home-sewing public how to make their own creative clothing in a detailed article in Threads Magazine. The next year signaled a broadening of his range to include simpler ready-to-wear sportswear—tweed dresses and coats, coats of blanket materials, matching suede jackets and skirts, and short floral dresses with just a hint of the Koos play with fabrics in a mixed-print collar. The designer continued to refine his artistry, developing a ready-to-wear sportswear collection for DeWilde that is more subtle and interchangeable. Toned-down collage effects and texture appliqués lend interest to classic pieces in wool and cashmere, even sheer georgette. In 1978 he was the winner of the Gold Coast Award and in 1983 The American Printed Fabrics Council awarded Koos with a 'Tommy' award.
To adoring fans of his designs, van den Akker sold all of his fall-winter 1998 collection in 27 minutes. Finding homes in closets were a big shirt, reversible silk jacket, bias patchwork skirt, pull-cord handbag, and comfy drawstring pants with cotton tee. Stop the Presses quoted his reaction to the commercial triumph, "I am delighted that people across the country will once again have the opportunity to experience my clothing."
Throughout the last months of the 20th century and into the 21st, while collectors were stocking their wardrobes with his past glories, van den Akker remained a fashion pacesetter. He served as one of four guest critics of future fashion designers at the Fashion Institute of Technology exhibit entitled White Noise. The 1999 segment of the spirited annual student show at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, interpreted the psychological concept of white noise with 30 garments for adults and children. Despite PETA's protests of his use of fur in coutourier collections, he, along with Oscar de la Renta and Valentino, continued to design for New York-based furrier Alixandre by applying broadtail, fox, lynx, mink, sable, and sheared beaver to winter fashions. Van den Akker's spring/summer line for 2001 perpetuated his tradition of fabric collage and appliquéd couture in softly draping shapes to flatter the figure.
Currently Koos has a store at 1263 Madison Avenue, New York, his former location for decades and a studio in the Garment District of New York.
In 2002 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the San Francisco Academy of Art College as a Doctor of Humane Letters. In the summer of 2008 he became an artist in residence and gave a masterclass for the Academy of Art University
in San Francisco and in April 2009 also gave a masterclass for Vogue Patterns in Canada.
.
Balenciaga
by Nicolas Ghesquière
Spring '02 Line was inspired by Koos.
Marc Jacobs
Fall '06 Line was also publicized as Koos inspired.
More recently Koos has inspired and been working with Illustrator/Designer [Christopher Holloran] - Holzor.
In his own words Koos says-
"I think of myself as very basic . I am a craftsperson and I sew like that. I sew beautiful clothes. i am nothing more than a worker sitting behind a sewing machine. That's where I feel most comfortable, that's where I am the best. That's what I do best and it's very basic."
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
-born fashion designer based New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, USA. He is famed for his unique collaged 'Koos' designed clothing and notably the creator of the 'Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
' Sweaters.
Biography
Koos Van Den Akker was born on March 16, 1939 in the Hague, Netherlands. He taught himself to sew using a simple sewing machine and his first creation was a made a dress made form a white bed sheet for his sister. With a prolific disposition and a comprehensive portfolio at just age 15 he bypassed the 18 year old requirement age to attend the Royal Academy of Art where he studied fashion and made window displays for a department store until he was 18. He then had to spend two years in the Dutch army where his skills were recognized and a workroom in a basement was set up for him where he made clothes for the officers wives and daughters.After the two years Koos went to Paris to design window displays for the famous Galeries Lafayette
Galeries Lafayette
- History :In 1893 Théophile Bader and his cousin Alphonse Kahn opened a fashion store in a small haberdasher's shop at the corner of rue La Fayette and the Chaussée d'Antin, Paris. In 1896, the company purchased the entire building at n°1 rue La Fayette and in 1905 the buildings at n°38, 40 et...
but realizing he needed more formal training, in 1961 he enrolled in L'Ecole Guerre Lavigne (l'Ecole Supérieure des Arts et techniques de la Mode, Esmod
Esmod
ESMOD is the first fashion school established in France; founded in 1841.Today it is a school with 23 establishments worldwide in 15 countries which provides a degree in fashion design and tailoring, officially recognized by the government in the third level.ESMOD provides throughout its 17...
) which was located in the same building as the Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior , was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior.-Life:...
workrooms. Every year Christian Dior picked the most gifted students for an apprenticeship and in 1963 Koos was selected. After Three years at Dior and learning every detail about crafting beautiful clothes he moved back to Holland and started his own business opened up his first store in The Hague where he slept in a small room in the back. The window displays were lavish with chic and theatrical designs that enthralled onlookers with influences from American movies such as Carousel (film)
Carousel (film)
Carousel is a 1956 film adaptation of the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical of the same name which, in turn, was based on Ferenc Molnár's non-musical play Liliom. The 1956 Carousel film stars Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, and was directed by Henry King...
and Givenchy dressed Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
. But Holland wasn't ready for Koos designs and anything glamorous or fashionable was shunned by Dutch Women so after his father's death in 1968 Koos took off to pursue the wondrous delights of the United States, in particular, New York.
From a sewing machine on a hotel bed and only $180 in the pocket Koos set up a string of stores including ones on Madison Avenue, Columbus Avenue, Thomson Street Soho, 10th on Bleeker and even one in Beverley Hills, LA. In the mid seventies he even had a wholesale line with a showroom where major upscale stores such as Bonwit Teller
Bonwit Teller
Bonwit Teller was a department store in New York City founded by Paul Bonwit in 1895 at Sixth Avenue and 18th Street. In 1897 Edmund D. Teller was admitted to the partnership and the store moved to 23rd Street, East of Sixth Avenue...
, Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue is a luxury American specialty store owned and operated by Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises , a subsidiary of Saks Incorporated. It competes in the high-end specialty store market in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, i.e. 'the 3 B's' Bergdorf, Barneys, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor...
, Marshall Fields, Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's is an American department store owned by Macy's, Inc. .Bloomingdale's started in 1861 when brothers Joseph and Lyman G. Bloomingdale started selling hoop-skirts in their Ladies Notions' Shop on Manhattan's Lower East Side...
and Frost Bros.
Frost Bros.
Frost Bros. was a high-fashion retail chain based in San Antonio, Texas. The retailer opened its first store in 1917 at 217 E. Houston Street in downtown San Antonio. Frost Bros. was known for quality personal service, including name recognition, purchase preferences, and personal shoppers...
bought their Koos supplies. Overspending and stagnating sales eventually led to a tax-debt of half a million dollar.
Currently Koos has a store at 1263 Madison Avenue, New York, his former location for decades and a studio in the Garment District.
Koos maintained a high profile in New York and LA where entertainers such as Julie & Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
, Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
, Diahann Carroll and Barbara Walters
Barbara Walters
Barbara Jill Walters is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. She has hosted morning television shows , the television newsmagazine , former co-anchor of the ABC Evening News, and current contributor to ABC News.Walters was first known as a popular TV morning news...
. After the success of the Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
Sweaters his success was everywhere with more celebrities donning Koos garments with the likes of Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera is an American actress, dancer, and singer best known for her roles in musical theater. She is the first Hispanic woman to receive a Kennedy Center Honors award...
, Brook Shields, Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. Rossellini is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her.-Background and early life:Rossellini is a...
, Glenn Close
Glenn Close
Glenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...
, Lauren Sutton and NBA stars Isaiah Thomas (basketball)
Isaiah Thomas (basketball)
Isaiah Thomas is an American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings and was taken as the final pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. He is a 5 ft 9 in and 170 - 180 lb point guard. During his freshman year, he averaged 15.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals per...
& Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers...
.
In 1991 Koos' life-partner John Bell died of aids.
The Bill Cosby Sweaters
It was Bill CosbyBill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
's connection and those wild collaged sweaters he wore on TV that established Koos' reputation with the rich and famous. Soon after Bill Cosby was seen sporting Koos' vibrant and inspiring sweaters, famed notables such as Erik Estrada, Chuck Norris, and Richard Simmons became obsessed with obtaining their very own Koos original sweaters.
More than anyone else Bill Cosby has been a fan and a friend of Koos, inspiring and supporting him through the good and the lean years. Josephine Premice, a singer in the 1980s and a good friend of Koos asked him to make a sweater for a present for Bill Cosby . She took it to the set of the Cosby Show where Bill immediately put in on and wore it for the taping. It was an instantaneous hit. Cosby, in his incredibly generous way began giving his friends presents made by Koos. Cosby invited friends to New York for a weekend to celebrate his wife Camille's birthday and he asked Koos to open the store on Sunday especially for his guests and told each of them to choose something they liked, many of them are still loyal customers today.
Style - Painting with Fabrics
Koos van den Akker is known for his painterly delight in mixing colors, patterns, and textures in unusual, often one of a kind, garments. Always delighting clients who want something a bit different to wear his styles have not changed much, simple shapes being more amenable to rich surface manipulations. Having learned the basics of good fit and cut as an apprentice with the house of Christian DiorChristian Dior
Christian Dior , was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior.-Life:...
, Van Den Akker was able to proceed confidently with the fabric collages that have become his signature. Although his Koos garments recall the art-to-wear movement, they remain free of the sometimes heavy-handed messages inherent in the artifacts which seem more suitable for gallery walls—these masterpieces are meant to be worn and appreciated for their beauty.
Conservatively styled suits consisting of cardigan jackets and gored skirts might be covered with textured mixtures of fur, quilted fabric, leather strips, or pieces of wool. A dress of lace might be dramatized by bold appliqué. As many as six materials might be combined in collages of cotton, wool, furs, tweeds, sequins, and leather but all are carried out with a true designer's skill and artistic sensitivity. Indeed, van den Akker has admitted that the designs just flow, working themselves out through the process of creation, perhaps reflecting a hereditary affinity with Dutch national costume.
Career
Koos is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of AmericaCouncil of Fashion Designers of America
The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. is a not-for-profit trade association of over 350 of America’s foremost fashion and accessory designers. As of 2009, Diane von Fürstenberg is the group's President and Steven Kolb is the Executive Director...
(CFDA)
His clothes were made of beautiful fabrics with colorful print and lace inserts, sometimes following the lines of the garments in harmony and balance, other times contrasting shapes versus line. Van den Akker collected a following among celebrities and much press from Vogue (magazine)
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
, L'Officiel
L'Officiel
L'Officiel is a French fashion magazine. It has been published in Paris since 1921 and targets upper-income, educated women aged 25 to 49. As of 2006, it had a circulation of 101,719. A men's edition of L'Officiel and eleven foreign editions are also published...
, i-D
I-D
i-D is a British magazine dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. i-D was founded by designer and former Vogue art director Terry Jones in 1980. The first issue was published in the form of a hand-stapled fanzine with text produced on a typewriter...
ad more recently Vice Magazine.
Van den Akker has been eager to share the joy he attains from his craft. Designer Christian Francis Roth was his apprentice for several years before venturing out on his own. In late 1989 van den Akker showed the home-sewing public how to make their own creative clothing in a detailed article in Threads Magazine. The next year signaled a broadening of his range to include simpler ready-to-wear sportswear—tweed dresses and coats, coats of blanket materials, matching suede jackets and skirts, and short floral dresses with just a hint of the Koos play with fabrics in a mixed-print collar. The designer continued to refine his artistry, developing a ready-to-wear sportswear collection for DeWilde that is more subtle and interchangeable. Toned-down collage effects and texture appliqués lend interest to classic pieces in wool and cashmere, even sheer georgette. In 1978 he was the winner of the Gold Coast Award and in 1983 The American Printed Fabrics Council awarded Koos with a 'Tommy' award.
To adoring fans of his designs, van den Akker sold all of his fall-winter 1998 collection in 27 minutes. Finding homes in closets were a big shirt, reversible silk jacket, bias patchwork skirt, pull-cord handbag, and comfy drawstring pants with cotton tee. Stop the Presses quoted his reaction to the commercial triumph, "I am delighted that people across the country will once again have the opportunity to experience my clothing."
Throughout the last months of the 20th century and into the 21st, while collectors were stocking their wardrobes with his past glories, van den Akker remained a fashion pacesetter. He served as one of four guest critics of future fashion designers at the Fashion Institute of Technology exhibit entitled White Noise. The 1999 segment of the spirited annual student show at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, interpreted the psychological concept of white noise with 30 garments for adults and children. Despite PETA's protests of his use of fur in coutourier collections, he, along with Oscar de la Renta and Valentino, continued to design for New York-based furrier Alixandre by applying broadtail, fox, lynx, mink, sable, and sheared beaver to winter fashions. Van den Akker's spring/summer line for 2001 perpetuated his tradition of fabric collage and appliquéd couture in softly draping shapes to flatter the figure.
Currently Koos has a store at 1263 Madison Avenue, New York, his former location for decades and a studio in the Garment District of New York.
In 2002 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the San Francisco Academy of Art College as a Doctor of Humane Letters. In the summer of 2008 he became an artist in residence and gave a masterclass for the Academy of Art University
Academy of Art University
The Academy of Art University , a for-profit university owned by the Stephens Institute, was founded in San Francisco, California in 1929 by Richard S. Stephens...
in San Francisco and in April 2009 also gave a masterclass for Vogue Patterns in Canada.
QVC
In 1998 Koos started a label for television retailer QVC called 'Koos of Course!' and presented his own show with the collection selling out in 30 minutes. The line continued on QVC until his final show in February 2006.Inspired Designers
Countless people have drawn inspiration from Koos such as the artist Geoffrey BeeneGeoffrey Beene
Geoffrey Beene was an American fashion designer.Beene was born in Haynesville, Louisiana. He studied medicine at Tulane University, but dropped out in 1946, after three years. He moved to New York in 1947 to attend the Traphagen School of Fashion...
.
Balenciaga
Balenciaga
Balenciaga is a fashion house founded by Cristóbal Balenciaga, a Basque designer, born in the Basque Country, Spain. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as "the master of us all" by Christian Dior. His bubble skirts and odd, feminine, yet ultra-modern...
by Nicolas Ghesquière
Nicolas Ghesquière
Nicolas Ghesquière is a fashion designer and is currently creative director for the house of Balenciaga owned by the Gucci Group . He grew up in Loudun, Vienne....
Spring '02 Line was inspired by Koos.
Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for Marc Jacobs, as well as Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, with more than 200 retail stores in 60 countries. He has been the creative director of the French design house Louis Vuitton since 1997...
Fall '06 Line was also publicized as Koos inspired.
More recently Koos has inspired and been working with Illustrator/Designer [Christopher Holloran] - Holzor.
In his own words Koos says-
"I think of myself as very basic . I am a craftsperson and I sew like that. I sew beautiful clothes. i am nothing more than a worker sitting behind a sewing machine. That's where I feel most comfortable, that's where I am the best. That's what I do best and it's very basic."