Monokini Designer Gernreich

"Fashion will go out of fashion" was once declared by monokini designer Gernreich. Who was Rudi Gernreich, and what inspired his outrageous swimsuit designs that have shocked and titillated millions over the last 40 years? Find out right here!

Sexy black monokini

Provocateur, avant garde artist, fashion guru and self-promoter. All of these labels can be applied to one of the most daring and forward thinking designers of the century, Rudi Gernreich.

In 1938, Rudi Gernreich escaped with his mother from Nazi Germany at the impressionable age of 16, only to find himself in Los Angeles, California. He fell in love with the culture and began pursuing a career in modern dance. Although he did join a professional dance company, Rudi's interest in the arts pulled him in other directions, eventually leading him into fashion design.

Flash forward to the year 1964. Louis Reard's bikini swimsuit had debuted a decade earlier to scandalous reception, but nevertheless, the design had caught on worldwide. Little did anyone suspect that the bikini's sex quotient was about to be temporarily eclipsed by what would later be considered as more of a fashion stunt than a realistic design. Still, the move Gernreich was about to make would launch a career that would carry him through the next 40 years.

Gernreich, a contemporary of Andy Warhol and a minimalist at heart, looked at bikini designs of the day and decided they needed trimming down. At the same time, he was flirting with the idea of unisex clothing. He made the decision to break down societal barriers in one fell swoop by creating the monokini.

Gernreich's original monokini design was nothing more than a bikini bottom with suspender straps. The suit left the chest fully exposed, and was meant to be worn on a smooth shaven body. The original ad campaign included both male and female models wearing the suit in order to drive home the unisex theme Gernreich was trying to sell.

While the suit set off a publicity explosion, it was more successful at opening minds than it was at racking up sales. After the first year, the monokini faded from public interest, only to be replaced by another swimsuit revolution from monokini designer Gernreich, the thong.

Nearly as scandalous, the thong still covered just enough skin to make it acceptable in wider circles than the monokini had. Still following the unisex design theory that Gernreich had embraced wholeheartedly, the thong was made available to both men and women.

Multicolor monokini

Gernreich's influence on fashion spilled over into the sexual revolution of the 1960's and 70's. Sexual androgyny permeated the music scene with artists like David Bowie and Marc Bolan, and "Free Love" became the motto of a generation. Homosexuals, whose rights Gernreich fully supported as a gay man himself, began to go public in a way they never had before. Although the entire revolution can't be credited to monokini designer Gernreich, he certainly helped to blow the lid off social norms at the time.

Although Rudi Gernreich passed away in 1985, his affect on fashion hasn't been forgotten. In 2001, a major exhibition of Gernreich's fashions was mounted, entitled "Rudi Gernreich: Fashion Will Go Out of Fashion". It included examples of the famous monokini and thong swimsuits, as well as a virtual fashion show and a media presentation of Gernreich speaking about his own designs and social philosophies.

The monokini might have been disregarded for decades after its initial launch, but it has clearly been revived in ultra sexy swimsuit designs like the sling and the slingshot suspender bikini.

The monokini's influence can also be found in a far more mainstream version known as the cut out. This design is more of a one piece swimsuit with the top and bottom pieces connected by narrow bands of fabric. While it's still fabulously sexy, this suit is definitely tailored for women.

All in all, it seems that Gernreich's prediction that fashion will go out of fashion has yet to be realized. Let's hope it stays that way.

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