[MUSIC - OH SNAP!, "BILL COSBY SWEATER"]
KOOS VAN DEN AKKER: My name is Koos Van Den Akker, which is a
Dutch name.
I'm from Holland.
I was in Paris first.
I learned my trade at Christian
Dior, 1960 'til 1965.
Then I went back to Holland and had my own store in the
Hague where I was born.
But you know the Dutch--
Holland was not set up for fashion, it was totally
ridiculous.
I mean, I came with all those Dior fantasies and all those
women that were like cows there.
All they wanted was a skirt with extra pieces in front of
skirts so that the knees wouldn't wear out too fast.
You know, that kind of stuff.
This was 1960.
And so I always wanted to come to this country ever since I
saw "Breakfast at Tiffany's." I've been in this country
since 1968 and made a career here, 40 years, and never
looked back.
This is my work room and this is the people I work with.
Beatrice is here.
Beatrice has been with me for 28 years.
28, 29, yeah?
BEATRICE: [INAUDIBLE]
29.
KOOS VAN DEN AKKER: Amazing, huh?
This is Javier.
And Javier works with the customers.
So when there is stuff to be done in the store for those
women, Javier is the one that likes to do that.
So he fusses with those women.
JAVIER: Fuss.
KOOS VAN DEN AKKER: And is good with it, too.
Part of my legacy in this business is making the Bill
Cosby sweater.
The ones that I made for Bill Cosby and the ones that I made
in that period were all one-of-a-kind sweaters.
See, this is a typical Cosby sweater.
So the base is a jersey, so it's stretchy.
And then usually I use woolens and jerseys together and make
this kind of arrangement.
And in those days in the early '80s, it was
very much of patterns.
Now you have to realize, when you look at this now it's
familiar because all the fashion today is like that.
When I did this there was nothing like that around, so
people were just freaked out.
They said what the fuck is that?
MALE SPEAKER: Are these sweaters that
he wore on the show?
KOOS VAN DEN AKKER: Those were the Cosby sweaters, yeah, that
I got back for this occasion.
This is a very thin line between absolutely awful and
something of genius.
I mean, somebody can look at it and say
what the fuck is this?
This is the most horrible thing I've ever seen.
And somebody else says it's inspiration.
All this collaging, all this graphic stuff that I do,
painting with fabrics, was exceptional here but in
Holland it was everywhere.
So I was really the guy.
I was totally original.
When I did it then, people really couldn't figure out was
this home sewing or was this genius?
And they didn't go for genius, believe me.
They went for home sewing.
I had a friend, a black actress
called Josephine Premice.
And she was a good customer and she was a
friend of Bill Cosby.
And so one day she came to me and she said listen, I have to
have a present for Bill.
Would you make him a sweater or something?
And I said sure.
And so she went to see him and gave him the sweater and he
liked it very much.
So he went on the set with the sweater on.
Well, that episode got so many letters, apparently, asking
where did he get this sweater?
What the hell was that?
That he called and he said listen, this is a big success.
Would you make me more?
And I said absolutely, sure, why not.
And so that was it.
And all of a sudden there they were on TV, and it was a kick
and it was totally fun.
And then I got to know him, of course.
And Bill Cosby was just a delightful man who very much
appreciated my work and the way I worked,
and supported it.
And that's basically the story and I was very
thankful for that.
You know, fabrics is never important to me what it costs.
I can work with $2 a yard fabric, I can work with $50 a
yard fabric.
I prefer the $2 a yard fabric.
Here, this is my table and it's an
enormous mess right now.
So this is a paper pattern of a skirt.
I pick a primary fabric, which will be this one.
And so I will cut a skirt out of that.
And then when I have that flat, then I think well, what
would work with this?
Nothing is by chance--
you compose it.
There is no reason why this is here and not there, of course.
To my eye, this looks good.
And so then you press it down, you pin it down, and then you
make the whole thing.
And that's basically the process of it.
It's painting with fabrics.
It's making pictures one after another and just happen to be
clothes, and that's it.
I never cared about was it washable?
Can you clean it?
I couldn't care less.
Never was a problem with me--
no, didn't care.
I have a new thing now with the ribbons that look like
Arabic writing, and I think it's very beautiful.
And it looks like, again, those countries where we have
trouble with where everything is beautiful, really.
There's nothing more beautiful than that.
Here is a man who is totally comfortable in his
clothes, in his skin.
A practical and how absolutely beautiful.
But everything in this book is things I wish I could put it
together as beautiful.
Look, everything is with great dignity, beautiful,
beautiful--
this to me is fashion, this is my inspiration.
When you talk about collaging, this is collage.
This is totally beauty, this is pure beauty.
That is just the best.
I did a master class in San Francisco at the Academy of
Art College.
And all those kids looked so hot with all the
tattoos and all that.
And so one day I thought well, if I don't do it now I'll
never do it.
I called a friend, and I said listen, I
want a tattoo by tonight.
So we went to the Chinatown and he talked to some old
Chinese gentleman.
I wanted it to say "new beginnings," so he asked the
old man to write down new beginnings in Chinese and he
wrote it down.
Then with the piece of paper, we went to a tattoo parlor.
And I said I want it to look like a piece of fabric, like a
swatch with polka dots, and I want that on it.
And, of course, needless to say, the next day when I got
to school I was the guy.
I was the man.
I was totally like oh, shit, this is cool.
And of course it was, I mean, 70-year-old man who all of a
sudden has a tattoo?
It's nice.
In San Francisco I had a big classroom that was mine.
So I photographed the walls here as they are.
And the photo department in that school-- it's a very
fancy school--
had it all done exactly the same size as the
walls in the school.
So my area in the school was exactly like this, except
everything was photos.
This was all photos, you couldn't take these glasses,
it was all photo.
And then there where all the other tables where the kids
were working and eight machines where they were
working on.
So I was in my own workroom.
It's still there, because I go back there in July and I go
back to my room.
Fashion and the fashion world, I couldn't care less.
It's so overrated and silly and all that.
It's not my life-- never was.
I like to put fabrics together.
So if I could make pillows for the rest of my
life I probably would.
I love sewing, you know?
I don't consider myself a designer and all
that shit, I'm not.
If I had become famous by doing couches and walls, I
would have never made a dress.
I don't like women.
I don't like working with them.
I don't fuss with women at all, that's why I'm
never in the store.
They need more psychiatrists than they need a designer.
That doesn't help when you need PR.
You say you don't really like women, well hey, then you're
not in the right corner.
This is a great guy in San Francisco called Bullwinkle
and we exchange clothes for artworks.
This is me in 1981, and then this is me two years ago.
That happened to be a nice photo, but the contrast is
pretty shocking.
This one's nice-- that was in a show in Houston, Texas.
I had done the screen and I was probably about
45-years-old there.
Those were dear friends of mine who died.
They all died.
So many people that are gone, but that's just
part of life, right?
Those were my cats.
And I had two, this one and that one.
And they became very old and they died on the top of
fabrics and all that.
I just called, the doctor came here, gave
them a little thing.
And the nice thing is that he died on a piece of brocade.
He didn't even know, he never even opened his eyes.
He got a shot and that was the end of that.
And they took him away and I made a beautiful
jacket out of it.
And the woman that wore that jacket never knew that some
cat had died right on top of it.
It's horrible to look at yourself in the mirror and see
this old guy.
Inside I'm nothing older than you.
How old are you?
MALE SPEAKER: I'm 29.
KOOS VAN DEN AKKER: Yeah, nice.
I'm nothing older than that, and then yet, I am.
I used to wear my own clothes when I was younger.
Now it doesn't really matter anymore.
I'm comfortable in just what I wear now.
Yeah, it's a rich life, it's a rich career.
If I drop dead tomorrow, I've really done it all.
I've made a lot of people happy.
I've been with lots of young people.
Showed them the way, very nice and enjoyed it.
Made my own families with people that were with me.
The ladies in the other room, one of them is
28 years with me.
It's family stuff.
It's just family.
And it's rich, totally rich.