Beachwear
Designer Rudi Gernreich American, born Austria
Manufacturer Westwood Knitting Mills American
Not on view
Never one to follow the crowd, Rudi Gernreich designed fashion that was shocking as well as ground breaking. Working predominately in knitwear, he later included vinyl and plastics. His designs promoted a "freeing" of the body as well as unified fashion. His "monokini" or topless bathing suit design of 1964 made headlines, bringing his fashions into the spotlight. Following this was a series of innovations, such as the "pubikini", the thong bathing suit, and the collection of "UNISEX" garments. As a designer, Gernreich consistently challenged the boundaries of fashion.
An experimental design, the tan knit bathing suit with its multi-color fringe skirt is characteristic of the Youthquake movement of the nineteen-sixties. The overall silhouette creates an air of frivolity.
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