Koos Van Den Akker

Born Koos van den Akker in The Hague, the Netherlands, Koos taught himself to sew using a simple sewing machine and his first creation was a dress made from a white bed sheet for his sister. With a prolific disposition and a comprehensive portfolio at just age 15, Van den Akker 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. Koos 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. == Fashion career ==

After the two years Koos voyaged to Paris to design window displays for the renowned Galeries Lafayette but realizing he needed more formal training. In 1961, Koos 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, Koos moved back to the Netherlands and started his own business, opening up his first store in The Hague where he slept in a small room in the back. The window displays were lavish, chic, and theatrical; with influences from American movies such as Carousel and movie stars such as Audrey Hepburn dressed by Hubert de Givenchy. After his father's death in 1968, Koos closed his stores and left for the United States, in particular New York City. 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 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. 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; it was an instantaneous hit. 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. More recently Koos has inspired and been working with Illustrator/Designer Christopher Holloran - Holzor. 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. ==References==