Future Perfect: MOCA Opens Rudi Gernreich Exhibit
Photos by William Claxton, courtesy of MOCA
Peggy Moffitt modeling Rudi Gernreich designs, 1968 and 1971.
Karl Lagerfeld and Sarah Burton presented their own takes on futuristic fashion this week, but for vintage futurism, look no further than Rudi Gernreich. The Austrian-born designer was so plugged-in that he famously issued the koan-like prediction, "Fashion will go out of fashion."
The Austrian-born designer is best known for inventing the monokini, or topless swimsuit, a look that didn't quite catch on, along with other confounding items like the "No-Bra Bra." He drew on his Space Age vision to design costumes for midnight-show ready flicks like Space: 1999 and Alien Attack.
Photos by William Claxton, courtesy of MOCA
Peggy Moffitt modeling Rudi Gernreich designs, 1966 and 1967.
While he was very much his own man, Gernreich was not averse to collaboration with his model muse Peggy Moffitt and Moffitt's photographer husband William Claxton. A new exhibit in Los Angeles, curated by Cameron Silver of Decades, aims to bring the trio's work to life via Claxton's pictures and films of the velvet-lashed Moffitt modeling Gernreich's designs.
The Total Look: The Creative Collaboration Between Rudi Gernreich, Peggy Moffitt, and William Claxton runs at MOCA's Pacific Design Center through May 20. Mod lovers headed to the Left Coast would be well served to make a trip.
