Ensemble
Rudi Gernreich rose to fame in the 1950s for designs for wool and synthetic knit swimsuits and in 1960 received a Coty award for innovative swimwear that permitted freedom of movement and allowed women’s bodies to retain their natural form. His interest in liberating the body may have resulted from his experience as a dancer and costume designer for the Lester Horton Modern Dance Troupe in the 1940s. Though this ensemble, with its anachronistic slashes and puffed sleeves, appears to deviate from the designer’s futuristic designs of the mid to late 1960s, the fabric’s elastic properties conform to his ideals of comfort and functionality.
Artwork Details
- Title: Ensemble
- Designer: Rudi Gernreich (American (born Austria), Vienna 1922–1985 Los Angeles, California)
- Date: ca. 1968
- Culture: American
- Medium: wool, synthetic, metal
- Credit Line: Purchase, Gould Family Foundation Gift, in memory of Jo Copeland, 2013
- Object Number: 2013.439a, b
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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