In the midst of the Great Depression the newlyweds moved to New York City and opened their first store, "Nudie's for the Ladies", specializing in custom-made undergarments for showgirls.

In 1947 Cohn persuaded young, struggling country singer Tex Williams to buy him a sewing machine with the proceeds from auctioning off a horse.

Cohn's designs brought the already-flamboyant western style to a new level of ostentation with the liberal use of rhinestones and themed images in chain stitch embroidery.

[6][3] He designed the iconic costume worn by Robert Redford in the 1979 film Electric Horseman, which was exhibited by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

[6] ZZ Top band members Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill sported Nudie suits on the cover photo of their 1975 album Fandango!.

According to his granddaughter, Jamie Lee Nudie (who changed her last name to her grandfather's first name), he would often pay for items with dollar bills sporting a sticker of his face covering George Washington's.

[3] Between 1950 and 1975 he customized 18 vehicles, mostly white Pontiac Bonneville convertibles, with silver-dollar-studded dashboards, pistol door handles and gearshifts, extended rear bumpers, and enormous longhorn steer horn hood ornaments.

[15] The new generation of clients include rappers Lil Nas X, Diplo and Post Malone,[16] pop stars Kesha, Harry Styles, Jenny Lewis and Taylor Swift, and lead singer Brandon Flowers of The Killers who favored black suits similar to those worn by Marty Stuart and the late Johnny Cash.

In December 2009, for example, a white Nudie stage shirt owned by Roy Rogers, decorated with blue tassels and red musical notes, sold for $16,250 at a Christie's auction.