Rudi Gernreich 1963

 

Rudi Gernreich for Harman in simulated patent leather

Sea Sirens 

Harper's Bazaar January 1963

Photography: Hiro Wakabayashi

PREDICTIONS: 1964 - AVEDON

eyes open on what's AHEAD

eyes - clear, unblinking - looking into the new year with interest and a hint of humor, ready to take on what's coming - and like it! the wide-open eye, set off by a thick maze of lashes and a delicate tint of lavender - smoky lavender, a good hint at what's ahead at revlon. lashes, dipped in fabulash, also by revlon.

now in knits: the STRONG SHAPE

slim shock of cerise by larry aldrich
cape hat by halston at bergdorf's

































sky blue swimsuit, fuchsia lined and string-tied by cole of california

wool knit bikini by rudi gernreich

herbert levine clogs

now in knits: the STRONG SHAPE  kimberly

maidenform's snap of pea green swimsuit, turtlenecked

tasseled, two-piece wool knit dress by cisa

two-piece wool knit swimsuit under cover of v-necked pullover 

 rose marie reid

Eyes Open On What's Ahead

Harper's Bazaar January 1964

Photography: Richard Avedon

eyes on the sixties at devodotcom

RUDI GERNREICH - FUTURIST

1985 THE PUBIKINI

Perhaps the most outrageous fashion comment, Gernreich's final design statement, the Pubikini, emerged one month before his death.

"Photographer Helmut Newton recorded this last month hurrah. Model Sue Jackson wore the tiny cup of fabric exposing pubic hair that had been shaped, shaved and dyed poison green (one of Rudi's signature colours) by L.A. hairdresser Rodney Washington. Washington followed the line Rudi Gernreich drew on Jackson's body with a grease pencil, while makeup artist Angelika Schubert covered her body with a very white makeup. Her lips and nails were bright red, her nipples painted abstract and there was a streak of bright green in her hair."

Details

-Priscilla Tucker

MAN OF CHROMATICS 1971

"I wear black so I can hear myself think."

-Rudi Gernreich

His thoughts could be loud -especially when they exploded with colour. Black was the frame; the rest was art. Before there was psychedelic or punk there was Rudi - combining pink with poison green; mixing rainbows with rivers of black and white. There was no such thing as a colour that didn't work.

1972

1972

1973

ORIENT-ED FASHION

1968

CROSS DRESSING

LOOKING BACK AT A FUTURIST

Jimmy Mitchill photographed by Alex de Paola 1953

Ann Saint-Marie 1953

1953

1952 THE FIRST NOTHING -INSIDE BUT YOU SWIM SUIT

THE LAST COLLECTION 1981

As always pushing design-as-fashion, Gernreich had the fun of doing it first. He knew a long time ago that he was on the right track when a well-known designer said to him: "I don't like your clothes. They look too much like modern art."

HIS CLOTHES WERE

Censured by the Vatican

Denounced by the Kremlin

Discovered by Life

Covered by Time

Uncovered by Look

Banned in Cannes

Expo'ed in Japan

Yet to millions he was known simply as the father of the topless bathing suit

RUDI GERNREICH

A RETROSPECTIVE 1922-1985

Rudi Gernreich

1922-1985

Once a great beauty

RUDI GERNREICH - EXPOSED 1974

Topping the topless of a decade before, Gernreich countered in 1974 with yet another extension of the maxim "less is more" - A breach creation he called "The Thong."

A unisex garment which nonetheless enhanced the difference between sexes, The Thong was designed to provide the "undeniable comfort and pleasure human beings take in nakedness."

 Thong Haircut created in 1974 by Vidal Sassoon

A compromise between liberty and legality, it offered the freedom of nudism without breaking the law on public shores.

The Thong's effect can be seen today in any aerobics class as bodies are covered and uncovered in Thong-evolved leotards.


Rudi Gernreich
A Retrospective
1922-1985

RUDI GERNREICH - EXPOSED 1964

"LESS IS MORE"

-Mies van der Rohe

"NOTHING IS AS POWERFUL AS AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME"

-Victor Hugo

"FASHION IS SPINACH"

-Elizabeth Hawes