Nørgaard’s striped top remains a fashion classic after 60 years

A ribbed, striped top designed by Jørgen Nørgaard has sold more than three million copies and is nearing its 60th anniversary, DR reports. Known as the Nørgaard top, it is part of the permanent exhibition at the Design Museum in Copenhagen.

Nørgaard, who died in 2020 aged 89, opened the clothing shop Nørgaard på Strøget in Copenhagen. His son Mads took over the business in 2011. The story of the garment and its designer is also the subject of the DR programme Nørgaards særlige sans.

A chess set helped inspire the design

In 1947, when he was 17, Nørgaard travelled to Paris for an international scout camp. He spotted an American tourist wearing a T-shirt, a garment he had never seen before, and asked to buy it. The tourist refused until Nørgaard offered a chess set his parents had given him. The two made a trade.

T-shirts, then mainly considered underwear, became popular in the United States during the 1950s as film stars including Marlon Brando and James Dean wore them in public.

Warmer homes created demand for lighter clothes

During the Second World War and well into the 1950s, the temperature in many Danish homes was around 15 degrees, and people wore heavy woollen sweaters to keep warm. As homes were insulated and fitted with radiators, indoor temperatures rose and lighter clothing became more practical.

“The indoor temperature had changed. So there was a need for cotton,” Nørgaard said in the DR programme. He put the striped top on sale for the first time in 1967.

The top was named 101

Nørgaard drew on American influences for the design’s name. He called it 101 as a tribute to Levi’s 501 jeans and Highway 1, the coastal road in California. The name also reflected the sense of freedom and adventure associated with American highways.

A close fit was part of the idea

Nørgaard said he wanted to make a garment that gave women “the best breasts in town,” according to an interview with Elle. He believed the top should fit closely and be made from a stretchy knitted fabric. He also thought it could be made in a single size.

The design arrived as the women’s liberation movement was gaining strength in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Anne Lise Vrede, a longtime employee at Nørgaard på Strøget, recalled that women were also abandoning bras. The ribbed fabric sometimes showed their nipples, she said, and women of different ages and body types enjoyed wearing it.

Cecilie Nørgaard, a sociologist and the wife of Jørgen Nørgaard’s son Mads, said he wanted to promote women’s opportunities.