Pullover, jumper

Artist Collection acrylic sweater, 1971. Motif designed by the artist Allen Jones; sweater designed by Mike Ross for The Ritva Man

Art and fashion crossed over in the London design and manufacturing company Ritva in 1971. The 'Artists Collection' was the brainchild of knitwear designer Mike Ross. For his first collection he asked four artists - David Hockney, Allen Jones, Elisabeth Frink and Patrick Hughes - to design a motif to be placed on the front of a sweater. Ross designed the overall pattern and chose the remaining colours. One hundred and fifty sweaters were made in each style and each had its own number embroidered on the inside neck alongside a nametape woven with the artist's name. The sweaters, which retailed at a top market price of £40.00, were sold at high fashion outlets like Blades and Browns. They were also available in specially designed, ready-to-hang, perspex box frames.

Caroline Baker, a key fashion journalist of the period, described the sweaters as KnitArt and told her readers to, 'Wear it. Frame it. Hang it on the wall. Take it down. Wear it again. Leave it to someone in your will. Sell it for more than you bought it for'. Mike Ross was the co-founder and owner of the Ritva labels with his wife, Ritva Ross.