“Sometimes what’s new in California, or what’s new in Italy, doesn’t travel very well. California’s loud, racy sportswear might look fine at Laguna Beach on a bright or overcast day, but at Southampton, the Life Guards would say: 'One of those nuts from Fire Island.’”
John Fairchild, The Fashionable Savages
John Fairchild, The Fashionable Savages
Gernreich Models, including Peggy Moffitt, with the Ferus Gallery's Irving Blum; Photograph by William Claxton
James Galanos might be the best-remembered California-based designer, but Rudi Gernreich for a time captured the zeitgeist. Galanos was known for his creativity and craftsmanship. With him, it was, "Why is someone whose talent rivals that of Balenciaga based in Los Angeles?" With Gernreich, who specialized in Space Age glamour and whose designs were sometimes R and X-rated, it was, "Of course, he is based in California."
The above photo is early Gernreich and rather conservative. The attire would certainly work in South Hampton today and probably even then. A more appropriate image would have depicted Rudi Gernreich's muse Peggy Moffitt in a Gernreich topless swimsuit.
The man in the above photograph, Irving Blum, founded the groundbreaking contemporary art space--Ferus Gallery--with Walter Hopps. Based in Los Angeles, Ferus was the first gallery to exhibit Warhol's soup cans. Blum, now in his eighties, spent most of his life selling art. He has been known to quip that his four-decade-younger son has earned far more on pictures than he ever did. That son, Jason Blum, did not follow his father's footsteps, however. Instead, he became a movie producer. Among his films is Paranormal Activity, which was made for $15,000 and grossed nearly $200 million worldwide.
The above photo is early Gernreich and rather conservative. The attire would certainly work in South Hampton today and probably even then. A more appropriate image would have depicted Rudi Gernreich's muse Peggy Moffitt in a Gernreich topless swimsuit.
The man in the above photograph, Irving Blum, founded the groundbreaking contemporary art space--Ferus Gallery--with Walter Hopps. Based in Los Angeles, Ferus was the first gallery to exhibit Warhol's soup cans. Blum, now in his eighties, spent most of his life selling art. He has been known to quip that his four-decade-younger son has earned far more on pictures than he ever did. That son, Jason Blum, did not follow his father's footsteps, however. Instead, he became a movie producer. Among his films is Paranormal Activity, which was made for $15,000 and grossed nearly $200 million worldwide.
A copy of The Rudi Gernreich Book signed by its photographer William Claxton and its author Peggy Moffitt is available via the Nick Harvill Libraries store.
Image Credit: The Rudi Gernreich Book
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