California Apparel News

Beginning May 9, The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles will unveil "Fearless Fashion: Rudi Gernreich," an exhibition that celebrates the designer's life and work through his designs, original sketches, letters and personal papers, photographs, press clippings and filmed accounts from friends and colleagues. Born in Vienna in 1922, Gernreich and his mother fled the region in 1938, upon the Nazi annexation of Austria, settling in Los Angeles. The designer died in Los Angeles in 1985.

Channeling the oppression he felt at a young age and the discrimination he faced upon arriving in the United States led him to develop a mission to effect social change; thereby, strongly influencing his work and life.

“After fleeing Nazi oppression as a teen, Rudi Gernreich immigrated to Los Angeles, where he encountered discrimination again," Bethany Montagano, Skirball exhibition curator said in a press release. "He would eventually find safe haven in the performing-arts world and the gay-rights movement."

The exhibition leads visitors through Gernreich's experiences throughout his life. Early on during his time living in Los Angeles, Gernreich became a member of the Lester Horton Dance Theatre—an interracial and socially engaged company, an experience whose influence can be seen in his finely crafted costume designs for other performance groups later in his career. During his early days in Los Angeles, he also served as the second founding member of the Mattachine Society, a gay-rights organization.

"These early experiences fueled his commitment to promoting a truer expression of self and designing clothes that proclaimed, ‘You are what you decide you want to be,’ as Gernreich himself put it,'” Montagano said.

Guests will experience the evolution of Gernreich and witness the ways in which he challenged traditional societal norms, often speaking on the social and political climate through his designs. From his topless monokini swimsuit designed in 1964 and Unisex Collection of 1970, to a military-inspired, Vietnam War-protest collection, the designer was fearless in using his designs as a voice of protest and progress.

Also noted within the exhibition is Gernreich's ability to break the inaccessibility of high fashion through his retail partnership with mid-range chain Montgomery Ward, which allowed more women to enjoy his ready-to-wear designs.

“Rudi Gernreich’s trailblazing fashions were fun, sometimes funny, and always freeing,” Montagano explained. “It had an openness and honesty that excluded no one, inviting everyone to reject conformity, celebrate difference, and embrace those who feel marginalized. It is a message that resonates to this day.”

The Skirball Center will host "Fearless Fashion: Rudi Gernreich" until Sept. 1.