Rudi gernreich biography books

"One of the most original, prophetic and controversial American designers of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, Rudi Gernreich (1922-1985), was fashion's bad boy and its oracle. The creator of the topless swimsuit and the thong, the see-through shirt and the "uni-sex" look, he infused Seventh Avenue with wit, intellect and the beauty of surprise. The Vienna born Gernreich left Austria in 1938, shortly after the Anschluss. As early as the 1950s, his innovative designs were causing a stir and by the 60s he had become both star and enfant terrible of the fashion world. This book documents Gernreich's career through William Claxton's acclaimed photography of Peggy Moffitt, Gernreich's favorite model and muse. Gernreich's work was rarely shown correctly in fashion bibles. His designs were considered too outrageous and were usually presented in a diluted manner. Augmenting Claxton's definitive studio work are shots of his earliest work and photographs by Richard Avedon, Helmut Ne

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The Rudi Gernreich Book

December 18, 2007

One of my most prized possessions. You may never have heard of him but Rudi Gernreich single handedly changed the face of fashion. Underwear for women styled after men's underwear? He did it first. The thong? Thank Rudi. Bathing suits without all the boning and construction? Rudi did it.
Unisex clothing? He's the man. Nude bras to wear under sheer clothing? Rudi again. The first fashion video? Guess who. Designer soups? Eat your heart out Wolfgang Puck, Rudi beat you to it. And of course, there's his infamous topless bathing suit.

Gernreich was a dancer so he knew how the body moved and created clothing that worked with the body, sometimes using the body as a design element. He also wasn't afraid to mix plaid with polka dots, hot pink with poison green. His clothes were sometimes garish, sometimes theatrical but always pratical and wearable.

What makes this book so awesome isn't just the document of Rudi's fantastisk, sometimes mind boggli

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Rudi Gernreich

Austrian-born American fashion designer (1922–1985)

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 mode 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