The Cosby Sweater Returns

By Caroline Gidiere

Bill Cosby wearing one of his infamous sweatersBrace yourselves:  The Cosby Sweater is on its way back in!!! Rag & Bone, popular for their jeans and the ubiquitous “Classic Newbury” ankle boot, sent three looks down their runway at the Fall 2014 show that bear a striking resemblance to “Cosby Sweaters,” those worn by Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) on the long-running 80s television hit, The Cosby Show. Marcus Wainwright, who along with David Neville make up the design duo behind Rag & Bone, confessed that the sweaters were made by Coogi and were a nod to the 80s, “It’s eighties but not in a Dynasty Bill Cosby Sweaterkind of way,” said Wainwright backstage before the show (as reported on vogue.com).

I had thought Coogi made many of the more memorable Cosby Sweaters, but I guess I am wrong about that. Wikipedia reports that

[t]he [Cosby] sweaters were erroneously thought to be designed by the Australian clothing company Coogi, but were actually designed by Dutchman Koos van der Akker. They were dubbed “Cosby sweaters”, a term that is used to describe sweaters that are generally deemed garish and unappealing.

Hmm. . . . better luck to Rag & Bone with their Coogi collaboration.

Cliff Huxtable sporting a very Coogi-esque sweater during The Cosby Show’s opening credits

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Rag & Bone Fall 2014 Runway Looks

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Author: Pia Sooney

Just a little obsessed with all things 80s, Pia still has her Swatch, her cassette tape collection, and her Converse Chucks. When not making friendship pins or listening to Depeche Mode, she runs a web design business.

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