Item 2019.69 - Rudi Gernreich Western Shirt Dress

Rudi Gernreich (1922–85) was born in Vienna, Austria and moved to the United States in 1938. He studied art at Los Angeles City College, entering the fashion industry in 1949 in New York with a coat and suit firm called George Carmel, going on to design for companies including Hattie Carnegie, Walter Bass and Westwood Knitting Mills. In 1960 he established his own company G.R. Designs Inc. Swimwear, knitwear and underwear were particularly important to Rudi Gernreich’s label, and he won his first American Fashion Critics Coty Award, for swimwear, in 1960. His last knitwear collection was in 1981.

Known primarily for his body-revealing womenswear, Rudi Gernreich also produced a small selection of menswear and unisex collections. His first men’s designs were in 1956 for the waiting staff of the Chinese restaurant General Lee’s Man Jen Low, in Los Angeles. Their popularity led to Gernreich developing a small collection of beach jackets, car coats and shirt jackets based on the uniforms. In 1962, swimwear designs included a one-shoulder knitted suit and ‘porthole’ cut-out knitted trunks. In 1963 there were designs for men’s knitwear including a patchwork cardigan and narrow, tight-fitting wool knit trousers. In 1970 the label launched the ‘Unisex Look’, showing identical designs on a male and female model whose entire head and body hair had been shaved off. The range included black and white monokinis and white knit bell-bottom trousers; miniskirts for men and women; unisex swimsuits and kaftans; and wool knit unisex jumpsuits. There were also men’s kaftans in 1973 and a military-inspired collection in 1974. In 1974 he also launched the design named ‘The Thong’, a controversial swimsuit for men and women, high cut over the hips and going between the buttocks at the back, which was trademarked in 1975, and later developed into men’s underwear designs.

Sources: Rudi Gernreich papers, 1891–1993, UCLA Library Special Collections; Peggy Moffitt and William Claxton, The Rudi Gernreich Book (New York: Rizzoli, 1991); US Trademark and Patent Office.