Rudi gernreich biography template
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Rudi Gernreich
August 8,1922 – April 21, 1985
Rudolf “Rudi” Gernreich (August 8, 1922–April 21, 1985) was an Austrian-born American gay activist and mode designer whose avant-garde clothing designs are generally regarded as among the most innovative and dynamic mode designs of the 1960s. As one of the original fem founding members of the Mattachine samhälle, one of the earliest gay rights organizations in the United States, he played a key role in the advancement of LGBTQ+ rights at a time when it was quite dangerous to do so. Throughout his long, unconventional, and trend-setting career, he purposefully used mode to advance sexual freedom, women’s liberation, and LGBTQ+ rights, and to utöka society’s observation of what was acceptable in the public sphere.
He was the first to use cutouts, vinyl, and plastic in clothing. He designed the first thong bathing suit; the first swimsuit without a built-in bra; the minimalist, soft, transparent No Bra; unisex clothing; and th
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Rudi Gernreich (1922-1985) was born in Vienna but fled to California in 1938, where he studied in Los Angeles. He worked as a dancer and costume designer before becoming a freelance designer. In 1951 he began designing for Walter Bass and, in 1953, Westwood Knitting Mills. Gernreich produced knitwear that was comfortable and unstructured. He designed under both labels until 1959, when he left to start his own label and to design for Harmon Knits.
He created a short-lived sensation with topless bathing suits in 1964 and made popular knitwear and long, straight, halter dresses. He often used fabrics with geometric patterns and narrow stripes and introduced plastic fabrics in futuristic modes. Gernreich went into semi-retirement in 1968, but continued to produce knits into the early 1970s.
Written by ikonicvintage
from a late 1950s dress
Courtesy of pf1
from a late 1950s wool swimsuit
Courtesy of fuzzylizzie.com
from a 1960s silk scarf
Courtesy of Vivavintage • Rudi Gernreich was a Los Angeles-based fashion designer who made international waves with his avant-garde approach to fashion in the 1960s and ‘70s. A Jewish refugee from Nazi-occupied Austria, he emigrated as a teenager with his mother to Los Angeles in 1938. In 1950 he quietly co-founded one of the earliest American gay movement organizations in the United States: the Mattachine Society. Originally formed by a small group of close friends and romantic partners, the Mattachine Society began as a private club of sorts where men could meet and discuss their personal experiences with other men. They coined the term “homophile” (from the Greek root words meaning “same (sex) love”) to describe their burgeoning sense of collective identity, as the contemporary term “gay” had yet to catch on as a public descriptor. According to Craig Kaczorowski, writing for the LGBTQ Archive: “By sharing their personal experiences
Rudi Gernreich: Fashion Designer and Figure of LGBTQ+ History