- Term
Nudie Cohn
- Alternate Term
Cohn, Nudie
Nudie
- Occupation/Role
costume designer and tailor
- Date
1902-1984
- Remarks
Nudie Cohn was born as Nuta Kotlyarenko in Kyiv in 1902. To save him from the pogroms of Czarist Russia his parents sent him at age 11, with his brother, Julius, to America. While living in a boarding house in Minnesota he met Helen "Bobbie" Kruger, and they married in 1934. In the midst of the Great Depression the newlyweds moved to New York City and opened their first store, specializing in custom-made undergarments for showgirls. In 1940s they moved to California, where Nudie and Bobbie began designing and manufacturing clothing in their garage. As their creations gained a following, the Cohns opened "Nudie's of Hollywood" in North Hollywood, dealing exclusively in western style clothing. Nudie's designs brought the already-flamboyant style to a new lever with the liberal use of rhinestones and chain stitch embroidery. Cohn was equally well known for his outrageous customized automobiles, nicknamed "Nudie Mobiles." Nudie Cohn died in 1984. Nudie's Rodeo Tailors continued operation under the ownership of Bobbie and granddaughter Jamie, it eventually closed in 1994.
- See Also