Gernreich

Rudi (1922-1985). American designer. He anticipated the era of the nude look, presenting, in 1964, a topless bathing suit. It caused a scandal. But just a few years later, all the beaches in the western world, despite fines and injunctions, were crowded with bare nipples. He was also famous for a series of daring designs of bras that glorified the breasts, and for dresses made of knit and stretch fabrics that adhered closely to the body, emphasizing it but not sheathing it. In 1951, he entered the world of fashion by way of ballet, in which he had worked as a dancer and as a costume designer, a job more consistent with the experience he had gained as a student at the Los Angeles Art School during the 1940s. Born in Austria, he left Vienna with his mother in 1938, emigrating to the U.S. after Hitler’s Anschluss.