Fashion Designer Rudi Gernreich, 47, is best known for designing almost nothing at all: the topless bathing suit. Although he sold 3,000 copies at $25 apiece, he did not really mean to market it. He made the suit mainly as a "statement" in support of the "liberated look" of the late 1960sa look he further promoted with his No-Bra bra, clinging knit minidresses, "Swiss cheese" swimsuits and see-through blouses. All that pioneering so exhausted Rudi that he treated himself to a year's sabbatical in order to restore his flagging energies; he convalesced comfortably in Tangier, Paris and the Hollywood hills. Now...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
