Cohn, Nudie, 1902-1984

Biography / Administrative History

Nudie Cohn (Nuta Kotlyarenko) was born in Kiev, Russia, in 1903. He immigrated to the United States when he was 11 years old. Early in his career, he worked as a tailor in Brooklyn and spent time making lingerie for showgirls in New York. After numerous financially difficult years in New York, he and his wife Bobbie Cohn moved to North Hollywood, California in 1939. He opened Nudie's Rodeo Tailors Inc. in 1949 at the corner of Victory and Vineland Streets in North Hollywood. In 1963, he moved his shop to Lankershim Boulevard where it remained until Bobbie Cohn closed down the store in September of 1994. Nudie died in 1984, at the age of 81.

In the early days of the business, Nudie sold mostly simple and inexpensive wool gabardine shirts and pants that were free of embroidery or other forms of decoration. He developed his trademark style, as well as his Western wear clientele, by making clothing for free for up-and-coming country artists in the early 1950s such as Tex Williams and Roy Rogers. He employed rhinestones, sequins, applique and bold-colored fabrics in his clothing designs, which were specifically created to attract attention to the entertainers who wore them. Often, the suits that he made reflected the personalities of those that he designed for: Porter Wagoner's first Nudie suit (made for free) was peach-colored with a rhinestone and sequin covered-wagon motif.

Nudie's clientele broadened to include Rock musicians such as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards after Gram Parsons had Nudie design a suit (embroidered with women, marijuana leaves and pills) for him. Nudie also designed clothing for many other television and movie personalities over the course of his career, such as Robert Redford and Clint Eastwood. He is most likely best known for designing Elvis' gold lame suit. Nudie also designed the outfit that Robert Redford wore in "The Electric Horseman." Janis Joplin wore a pair of Nudie pants during her famous television interview with Dick Cavett. Roy Rogers was buried in a Nudie's suit.

Today, Nudie's clothing is displayed at museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Autry also owns many Nudie pieces. His work continues to influence contemporary clothing designers such as Tommy Hilfiger.

From the guide to the Nudie's Rodeo Tailors Archive, 1950-1994, 1950-1982, (Autry National Center. Institute for the Study of the American West)