The best Cosby sweater of all?

0
116

— It might be summer, but Bill Cosby has sweaters on his mind.

The comedian, best known for playing Dr. Cliff Huxtable in NBC’s groundbreaking hit, “The Cosby Show,” is asking fans to vote for their favorite eclectic sweater among those he wore.

As of Wednesday, an argyle sweater with track runners across the front leads the poll on BillCosby.com. Sweaters compete in categories including “The Crew, “The Sweat,” and “The Fleecy,” each one vying to be “The Champion Stitch.”

Voting begins again on July 12. After voting, fans will automatically be entered into a drawing to receive an autographed book by the 75-year-old comedian.

Cosby sweaters have become a cultural phenomenon since Cosby first began wearing them in the 1980s. Social media sites, ugly sweater parties, fashion designers and even pop indie artists have celebrated iconic Cosby-sweater look.

Several fans said on Twitter of the tournament, “Easily the best thing I’ve seen online today.”

Cosby sweaters have been the source of controversy, too. In March, Kiley Kmiec, co-founder of the website Cosbysweaters.com, received a cease and desist from Cosby’s legal representatives, who alleged the site was a violation of his intellectual property, Gawker reported. The site didn’t have anything to do with Cosby’s sweaters, it was just a funny name, said Kmiec, who complied and changed the name of the website to nextimpulsesports.com.

Representatives for Cosby did not respond to requests for comment.

Dutch designer Koos van den Akker, forever linked by his 1980s designs to the Cosby sweater phenomenon, told Fashionista.com that he created the sweaters by simply throwing fabrics together.

“It is all pieces of fabric put together, collaged, totally free-form on a shape that is basically a huge T-shirt, and it was always different,” he said. “But he liked it, and it gave him a certain style.”

If you can’t get enough of the argyles, cashmere and cardigans, a separate Tumblr, The Cosby Sweater Project, features illustrations that break down all of Cosby’s wacky designs. Creator Kelly Tucker was drawn to the brightly colored patterns of the sweaters featured on the show.

Tucker is also ahead of the game in the voting polls.

“I have been voting since the beginning, though, it’s been really hard for me to choose just one.”

The-CNN-Wire/Atlanta/+1-404-827-WIRE(9473)

™ & © 2013 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.