Tailors, embroiderers and the people in the shop
The hands behind
the label.
A famous name can lead to a whole workshop. Meet the tailors, business partners and skilled makers whose lives connect these clothes, and explore an expanding history of independent shops across the country.
Philadelphia, by way of the rodeo circuit
Rodeo Ben ↗
Rodeo Ben’s Philadelphia business sent Western tailoring far beyond its shop, through catalogues, mail orders and clothes made for performers.
Custom tailoring & the California stage
Nathan Turk ↗
Nathan and Bessie Turk helped give California performers a distinctive wardrobe, from individually styled clothes to coordinated outfits for a whole band.
A workshop behind the rhinestones
Nudie Cohn ↗
Nudie and Bobbie Cohn built a shop where performers’ ideas became clothes, and a workshop whose embroidered stories travelled far beyond North Hollywood.
From rodeo ground to West 48th Street
Fay Ward ↗
Fay Ward brought the experience of a ranch hand and bronc rider to his writing and his Western tailoring business in New York.
Across workshops, genres & generations
Manuel Cuevas ↗
Manuel Cuevas’s work connects Los Angeles tailoring with performers across generations and musical traditions.
Workshops, embroidery and independent practice
Viola Grae ↗
Viola Grae’s pictorial embroidery and surviving labels lead into a history of skilled work within and beyond the Nudie workshop.
Rose Clements ↗
Rose Clements was a master embroiderer whose work belongs at the centre of the Nudie workshop’s story.
Jaime Castaneda ↗
Jaime Castaneda’s career runs from the Nudie workroom through Manuel’s shop to an independent custom label.
Marge Riley ↗
Marge Riley’s ranch clothes appeared in the fashion pages, bringing suede, fringe and Western dress into a wider California story.
More makers, more places
Start with an object.
Every maker’s story has a route back to the clothes, photographs and documents.
Browse the collection ↗