For more than fifty years, fashion designer Koos van den Akker (1939) sat behind his sewing machine from early morning to late at night. In the many ups and downs that have marked his life, this was the one constant, the place where he felt most secure. “Let the beauty of what you love be what you do” was tattooed on the inside of his right arm for a reason. It was his motto. Koos van den Akker is best known for designing the sweaters that Bill Cosby wore in The Cosby Show. But its merits go far beyond that. In 1968 van den Akker closes his couture salon in The Hague to try his luck in America with $168 in his pocket and his sewing machine under his arm. He opened his first store in 1970, eventually ending up on the “Gold Coast of Shopping” in 1975: Madison Avenue. This is followed by many ups and downs, both in business and in private. Van den Akker always manages to overcome the difficult times, in part thanks to his work ethic and his down-to-earth view of life. “Fashion, well, it’s all about the same thing. Two sleeves or trouser legs and a hole.” In this monograph, which is based on extensive archival research, Hanka van der Voet sketches a picture of the extensive and versatile career of Koos van den Akker. The book shows in words and pictures how the son of a coal farmer developed into the “Pasha of Patchwork”.