Alec Weitl is the mind behind blog Sexy Sweaters, "sexiest sweaters in the whole fuckin world." Here jersey is the canvas for impactful images – everything from LOL cat pirates to Gaga, Rihanna and a banknote with two pills over the Queen's eyes. Brilliantly, none of these designs exist in reality, this is a purely net pursuit... until Weitl finds the right factory. He chose his 10 best for Dazed Digital and we caught up with him to learn more.
Dazed Digital: When did you become obsessed with sweaters?
Alec Weitl: Haha, I'm not even obsessed with sweaters actually. I'm obsessed with super creative fashion and sweaters just happen to be the medium I picked for my designs.
DD: Do you remember the first one you did?
Alec Weitl: The first one I did was a design that used Damien Hirst's diamond covered skull - it's called "For the Love of God" and it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
I grew up in Poulsbo, Washington. It's where I live now, like an hour away from Seattle and you have to ride the ferry to get there. It's literally the middle of nowhere. I live across the street from a junkyard and the coolest thing in my town is probably the Walmart Supercenter.
I started the project when I was at college really bored skipping class and smoking weed every day. I needed a really great creative outlet. I was on tumblr every day because I was OBSESSED with seeing all of the amazing art that's out there in the world. Then I saw these designs this guy AleX Gibson, is a scholarship, final year art student at the Copper Union in NYC made of photoshopped clothing. He a blog called Bad Smelling Boy. I would randomly see them on Tumblr (I didn't even know he made them) and then I got the idea "why don't I make some of those sweater designs?" So I did. Basically the whole thing started with me making designs of clothes that I want to wear.
DD: How many sweatshirts do you own?
Alec Weitl: I probably own like 7.
DD: As the next step, will you create physical sweaters?
Alect Weitl: Yep, I'm finding the right place to manufacture my sweaters right now. I've talked to some people in Russia and also in China. And when I was in New York Nicola said that he would help me find a place to get them printed (Nicola if you're reading this please help me still <3).
DD: What else should we know?
Alec Weitl: I want Brooke Candy to wear a Sexy Sweater.
