A retina-flexing barrage in virtual jersey, we chat the power of imagery with one of Nicola Formichetti's favourite bloggers
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.Â
Dazed Digital: When did you become obsessed with sweaters?Â
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.
