Rudi Gernreich

Rudi Gernreich, Vienna-born, emigrated to the US in 1938, is one of the most influential fashion designers of the twentieth century. Today, his ideas and designs, for example topless fashion ("Monokini"), the "Total Look" or unisex fashion, are firm fixtures in the fashion repertoire; in the sixties and seventies his projects provoked many international scandal.

But the visionary fashion designer's main concern was to replace traditional conceptions of the body and clothes with a 'fashion of the future' that could be worn by everyone: women and men, young and old, rich and poor; a fashion that was intended to give the wearer a new sense of self–awareness.

The exhibition, the first comprehensive retrospective of the life and work of Rudi Gernreich, portraying the fascinating career of this revolutionary designer, shows how fashion both reflects and anticipates social trends and developments.

Thanks to a virtual catwalk specially developed by Daniel Egg, visitors will see a scenario of real-world objects and virtual models moving in three dimensions, presenting Rudi Gernreich's designs "imbued with life", as it were.