Koos Van Den Akker

Koos van den Akker (March 16, 1939 – February 3, 2015) was a Dutch-born fashion designer who lived and worked in New York City. During his 50+ year long career, Van den Akker was recognized for his Koos fashion label (1969–2015) which featured garments adorned with Koos' collage work and cuts.

Early life and education Born Koos van den Akker in The Hague, the Netherlands, Koos taught himself to sew using a sewing machine and his first creation was a dress made from a white bedsheet for his sister. Van den Akker attended the Royal Academy of Art where he studied fashion and made window displays for a department store until he was 18. Koos then spent two years in the Dutch army making clothes for the officers' wives and daughters.

Awards In 2002, Van den Akker 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. In April 2009, he 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.

The Bill Cosby Sweaters

Josephine Premice, a singer in the 1980s and a good friend of Koos's, asked him to make a sweater as present for Bill Cosby. She took it to the set of The Cosby Show where Bill immediately put it on and wore it for the taping. Cosby then began giving his friends presents made by Koos; when he invited friends to New York for a weekend celebrating his wife Camille's birthday, Cosby asked Koos to open the store on a Sunday exclusively for his guests, and told them to choose something they liked.

Inspired designers

Koos' innovations in fashion have inspired a spectrum of designers from Geoffrey Beene to the Balenciaga by Nicolas Ghesquière Spring '02 Line, to the Marc Jacobs Fall '06 Line. Koos has inspired and worked with illustrator/designer Christopher Holloran.

Koos on Koos In his own words Koos said: "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."

Death In 1991, Koos' life-partner John Bell died.

Van den Akker died on February 3, 2015, at the age of 75.