Austrian-born American fashion designer (1922–1985)
Rudi Gernreich
Gernreich at a Mattachine Society meeting, 1951
Born
Rudolf Gernreich
(1922-08-08)August 8, 1922
Vienna, Austria
Died
April 21, 1985(1985-04-21) (aged 62)
Los Angeles, California, US
Alma mater
Los Angeles City College
Occupation
Fashion designer
Years active
1950–1985
Known for
Designer of the monokini Avant-garde clothing designs Early supporter of the Mattachine Society
Partner(s)
Harry Hay (1950–1952) Oreste Pucciani (1953–1985; Gernreich's death)
Rudolf "Rudi" Gernreich[1] (August 8, 1922 – April 21, 1985) was an Austrian-born American fashion designer whose avant-garde clothing designs are generally regarded as the most innovative and dynamic fashion of the 1960s. He purposefully used fashion design as a social statement to advance sexual freedom, producing clothes that followed the natural form of the female body, freeing them from the constraints of high fashion.
He was known for the early use of vinyl and plastic in clothing, and for his use of cutouts. He designed the first thong bathing suit,[2] unisex clothing, the first swimsuit without a built-in bra,[3] the minimalist, soft, transparent No Bra, and the topless monokini. He was a four-time recipient of the Coty American Fashion Critics Award. He produced what is regarded as the first fashion video, Basic Black: William Claxton w/Peggy Moffitt, in 1966. He had a long, unconventional, and trend-setting career in fashion design.
He was a founding member of and financially supported the early activities of the Mattachine Society. He consciously pushed the boundaries of acceptable fashion and used his designs as an opportunity to comment on social issues and to expand society's perception of what was acceptable.
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Rudolf "Rudi" Gernreich (August 8, 1922 – April 21, 1985) was an Austrian-born American fashion designer whose avant-garde clothing designs are generally...
actress. During the 1960s, she worked very closely with fashion designer RudiGernreich, and developed a signature style that featured heavy makeup and an asymmetrical...
monokini (also known as a "topless bikini" or "unikini") was designed by RudiGernreich in 1964, consisting of only a brief, close-fitting bottom and two thin...
Austrian-born American fashion designer RudiGernreich preferred that his designs should be worn braless. In October 1964, Gernreich collaborated with Exquisite Form...
as the "topless swimsuit" (also known as the monokini) designed by RudiGernreich in the 1960s. The word "topless" may carry sexual or exhibitionist connotations...
the term bikini) had a culotte with a thong back. Fashion designer RudiGernreich, who in the mid-1960s created the first topless swimsuit, which he called...
half of a bikini. In 1964, RudiGernreich, an Austrian fashion designer, designed the original monokini in the US. Gernreich also invented its name, and...
Courreges, RudiGernreich and Paco Rabanne....France Andrevie...must have researched the short-cropped, tube-shaped dresses of RudiGernreich, the minis...
1962 RudiGernreich first conceived of a topless swimsuit, but he didn't intend to produce the design commercially. It had more meaning to Gernreich as...
bikini was first back-derived as consisting of two parts, [bi + kini] by RudiGernreich, who introduced the monokini in 1964. Later swimsuit designs like the...
Hills Chihuahua as the voice of Sebastian. Urie originated the role of RudiGernreich in the 2009 off-Broadway play The Temperamentals, about the foundation...
Johnson is a long-term breast cancer survivor. André Courrèges Diana Dew RudiGernreich Tiger Morse Mary Quant Paco Rabanne "Betsey Johnson". Anne-Marie Schiro...
alongside Edie Sedgwick, Tiger Morse, Pierre Cardin, Baby Jane Holzer, RudiGernreich, André Courrèges, Emanuel Ungaro, Yves Saint Laurent, and Mary Quant...
RudiGernreich in 1964, consisting of only a brief, close-fitting bottom and two thin straps; it was the first women's topless swimsuit. Gernreich's revolutionary...
He was the last partner of RudiGernreich, fashion designer, and at the latter's death, established the ACLU RudiGernreich-Oreste Pucciani Endowment Fund...
Alcoholics Anonymous. Hay met RudiGernreich in July 1950. The two became partners, and Hay showed Gernreich The Call. Gernreich, declaring the document "the...
constituted a minority group. Hay met RudiGernreich in July 1950, with the pair soon entering a relationship. Gernreich shared many of Hay's leftist ideas...
Space Age fashions by André Courrèges, Pierre Cardin, Paco Rabanne, RudiGernreich, Emanuel Ungaro, Jean-Marie Armand, Michèle Rosier, and Diana Dew Furniture...
magazine pictorial from the set of Cleopatra, Peggy Moffitt modeling RudiGernreich's topless maillot and how Life magazine handled the story (1964), and...
had no idea how to contact her. He finally got her phone number from RudiGernreich, later the designer of the topless swimsuit. The name Vampira was the...
designed by RudiGernreich, consisting of only a brief, close-fitting bottom and two thin straps; it was the first women's topless swimsuit. Gernreich's revolutionary...
"Big" Davy Rosenberg, gave Doda a monokini topless swimsuit designed by RudiGernreich. She performed topless that night, the first noted entertainer of the...
Skirts", which showed designs by Dries van Noten, Vivienne Westwood, and RudiGernreich in addition to Gaultier's in order to examine "designers and individuals...
Belgian-American founder the Diane von Furstenberg (DVF) fashion company RudiGernreich (1922–1985), Austrian-born avant-garde fashion designer; known for creating...
alongside Edie Sedgwick, Tiger Morse, Pierre Cardin, Paco Rabanne, RudiGernreich, André Courrèges, Emanuel Ungaro, Yves Saint Laurent and Baby Jane Holzer...
Cardin and Andre Courreges, and, most famously in the United States, by RudiGernreich. Twiggy has been photographed by such noted photographers as Cecil Beaton...
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