Latter photo by Adrian Buckmaster.
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 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 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 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 mayor upscale stores such as Bonwit Teller, Saks Fifth Avenue, Marshall Fields, Bloomingdale's and Frost Bros. bought their Koos supplies. Currently Koos has a store at 1263 Madison Avenue, New York, his former location for decades and a studio in the Garment District. Koos mantained 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.