There are plenty of grailed items on old-school hip-hop fans’ lists, but at the top of that list is a Coogi sweater. Rappers love a designer name-drop, but back in the day, it was more low-key – not so much the “Fashion Killa”, Margiela and Gucci refs, Pharrell at Louis Vuitton kinda thing that we have today. Back in the early days it was a bit more niche.
The cult, kaleidoscopic jumpers by the Australian knitwear brand Coogi got their clout from East Coast Brooklyn rapper Biggie Smalls in the ‘90s, who would often name-drop them in his songs. On his ‘94 song “One More Chance” he flexes with “Coogi down to the socks”, “Living better now/Coogi sweater now” he boasts on ‘95 song “Big Poppa”, on “Hypnotize” he raps: “Every cutie with a booty bought a Coogi”. In an interview he wore a Coogi sweater styled with a red leather jacket, for an MTV Spring Break performance he wore a short-sleeve version. And it was in 1995 that photographer Dana Lixenberg took the famous shot of the Notorious B.I.G. in his Coogi sweater and Versace sunglasses counting $50 bills, and Eddie Otchere shot him in London pairing his Coogi with a Versace leather jacket and shades, and a beret – those pieces were heavy on his rotation.
The brand dates back to 1969, starting out as Cuggi, making sweaters from silken, mercerised wool in bright colours and groovy patterns. The jumpers got their intro into the US when now-incarcerated (and very much cancelled) comedian Bill Cosby wore them on the Bill Cosby Show in the ‘80s.
Apparently, B.I.G. found the psychedelic Aussie jumpers through a man named Walt G, whom he would see at parties. “We used to go to [Manhattan nightclub] the Grand on Sundays,” legendary hip-hop stylist Groovey Lew told MTV News back in 2009. “My man had all the Coogis and the Kangols. And I got the pictures where G got his Kangol on and his Coogi, but Big had on Army jackets and Timberlands. [Biggie] fell in love with this kid’s style right there – just took it to the next level for the world to see.” Adding that “if you weren’t Bill Cosby or just a rich mf from Australia playing golf, nobody knew about [Coogi]. Big homie started running around with it, and that’s what opened the hood up to it.”
For B.I.G. Coogi was a statement of wealth and style – a symbol of “living better”. Biggie’s love for the multi-coloured knits made Coogi synonymous with his persona and East Coast rap. And the Aussie brand name-drops in his music have made the sweater so cult that it’s become a legacy item which is still referenced in lyrics to this day. Kanye West in Late Registration song “Gone” raps: “You sweat her and I ain’t talkin’ ‘bout a Coogi”, he also refs Coogi in My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’s “Devil in a New Dress” and in 2017 song “Feel Me” ft. Tyga. And he’s not the only one: you can spot Coogi mentions on tracks by A$AP Rocky, OutKast, Future, Lil Kim, 21 Savage, Nicki Minaj. The sweater being a symbol for cold, cult style and repping Biggie.
The vintage garms to this day are up on Grailed, eBay and Depop for £500 a piece. Would you cop?
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Featured image Dana Lixenberg©
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