Nudie Cohn

Nuta Kotlyarenko (; December 15, 1902 – May 9, 1984), known professionally as Nudie Cohn, was a Ukrainian-American tailor who designed decorative rhinestone-covered suits, known popularly as "Nudie Suits", and other elaborate outfits for some of the most famous celebrities of his era. He also became famous for his outrageous customized automobiles.

Early life Kotlyarenko was born in Kyiv on December 15, 1902, to a Jewish family. To escape the pogroms of Czarist Russia, his parents sent him, at age 11 with his brother Julius, to America. For a time, he criss-crossed the country, working as a shoeshine boy and later a boxer. He later claimed associating with gangster Pretty Boy Floyd. Cohn created Hank Williams' white cowboy suit with musical notations on the sleeves, and Gram Parsons' infamous suit for the cover of the Flying Burrito Brothers' 1969 album The Gilded Palace of Sin, featuring pills, poppies, marijuana leaves, naked women, and a huge cross. He also designed Jimmy Page's famous black colored Dragon suit worn at Led Zeppelin's Earl's Court shows in 1975.

Many of the film costumes worn by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were Nudie's designs. Belgian entertainer Bobbejaan Schoepen was a client and personal friend; his collection of 35 complete stage outfits is the largest in Europe.

Cohn strutted around town in his own outrageous suits and rhinestone-studded cowboy hats. His sartorial trademark was mismatched boots, which he wore, he said, to remember his humble beginnings in the 1930s, when he could not afford a matching pair of shoes. He shamelessly promoted himself and his products throughout his career. According to his granddaughter, Jamie Lee Nudie (who changed her last name to her grandfather's first name), he would often pay for items with dollar bills sporting a sticker of his face covering George Washington's. "When you get sick of looking at me," he would say, "just rip [the sticker] off and spend it."

Automobiles Cohn was equally famous for his garishly decorated automobiles. A Bonneville convertible designed for country singer Webb Pierce is on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. A Pontiac Grand Ville convertible customized by Nudie can be seen at the end of the 1988 Buck Owens/Dwight Yoakam music video, "The Streets of Bakersfield". That same car—which Owens's manager claims was originally built for Elvis Presley

Death and legacy Nudie Cohn died in 1984 at the age of 81. Numerous celebrities and long-time customers attended his funeral. The new generation of clients include rappers Lil Nas X, Diplo and Post Malone, pop stars Kesha, Harry Styles, Jenny Lewis, and Taylor Swift, and lead singer Brandon Flowers of The Killers, who favored black suits similar to those worn by Marty Stuart, David Lee Roth and the late Johnny Cash.

Cohn's creations, particularly those with celebrity provenance, remain popular with country-western and show-business collectors, and continue to command high prices when they come on the market. In December 2009, for example, a white Nudie stage shirt owned by Roy Rogers, decorated with blue tassels and red musical notes, sold for $16,250 at a Christie's auction. A Nudie shirt worn by Johnny Cash as grand marshal of the 1976 American Bicentennial Grand Parade in Washington, D.C., and in several subsequent stage performances, sold at auction for $25,000 in 2010.

Cohn is fictionalized in Derek McCormack's 2003 novella The Haunted Hillbilly.