Sesame St gets a fashionable makeover thanks to Sunday Style and Peter Alexander

SUNNY day sweeping the clouds away? Chance would be a fine thing. Alas, on this particular morning last July in New York City, it was raining cats and dogs, and Aussie pyjama king Peter Alexander was pounding the pavements, soaked through. At least he knew how to get to Sesame Street. “By the time I found their office, I was completely and utterly drenched. I looked like I was entering a wet T-shirt competition.” Luckily, he won.

“I said, ‘Please understand I normally look a lot more professional than this.’ Then I told them I am famously good in bed and my pyjamas speak for themselves. They saw my sense of humour. I just really clicked with them,” he says.

Alexander had visions of enormous fuzzy fake furs in Big Bird yellow and Oscar the Grouch green, of 3-D Grover slippers and popsicle-bright PJs. He planned to talk the makers of the iconic American kids’ TV show into a collaboration to celebrate its 45th season in Australia: he would use Sesame Street as his design inspo, then photograph the collection on set, with Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie, the Count and the whole gang – “something they’d never before allowed a commercial company to do”.

His pitch? “The Peter Alexander brand, particularly in winter, is all about fluffiness, comfort, smiles, friendliness, colour; that’s what drives Sesame Street, too.”

Of course, he pulled it off – and while he was at it, he talked Sunday Style in on the act, too. Fashion director Kelly Hume was granted exclusive access to the famed 123 Sesame Street set to shoot the fashion story you see on these pages.

Alexander has a history of audacious media coups. Previous seasons have seen him collaborate with Disney and Warner Bros. and past campaign stars include octogenarian supermodel Carmen Dell’Orefice and some very convincing impersonators of their Royal Highnesses, Kate ’n’ Wills.
He didn’t get to appear on the show, but Alexander did manage to interview a bunch of Streeters. “Obviously there’s a puppeteer, but he will only talk in character. We talked about dancing and fashion; they said they love getting dressed up in pyjamas at bedtime. I asked whether they know much about Australia and they said, ‘We know Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman

We reckon Miley Cyrus would crush on the Sesame Street by Peter Alexander collection. So, who would Alexander most love to see in his gear? “Cate Blanchett, because she is always so classic but you can see that underneath she has a sense of humour. I would love to see her totally dressed up in my stupid pyjamas.” Knowing Alexander, he’ll probably make that happen next.

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