The Gernreich Stuff

“Fashion will go out of fashion.”—Rudi Gernreich

In the 1960s and 70s, a fashion designer, a model and a photographer dominated the Los Angeles art scene, partnering with friends and other artists, and shaping the future of pop, minimalist and performance art. So it’s only fitting that the exhibition featuring this influential trio, The Total Look: The Creative Collaboration Between Rudi Gernriech, Peggy Moffitt, and William Claxton, was also a collective effort. Presented at the MOCA/Pacific Design Center satellite (and ending today), this remarkable show is the result of united efforts by curator, fashion historian and Decades founder Cameron Silver; coordinators Ethel Seno and Jhordan Dahl; Moffitt and Claxton's son Christopher Claxton, director of the Claxton Archive; and architectural firm Marmol Radziner, who designed the exhibition.
Gernreich was an Austrian refugee who arrived in Los Angeles in 1938, at age 16. His early experiences as a mortuary assistant, an RKO Studios sketch artist and studies with modern dance choreographer Lester Horton introduced him to the varied physicality that later infused his fashion work with motion and form. He has been credited numerous innovations including the first knit tube dress, the no-bra bra and the monokini, a topless swimsuit that had two slim straps over the shoulders, exposing the breasts. Clayton took the now-iconic photo of Moffitt in the monokini in 1964. Moffitt referred to the image, which appeared in respectable publications like Women's Wear Daily and Life, as “the shot seen around the world.” The monokini created a scandal in Chicago, where a woman as fined $100 for wearing a monokini; in San Franscisco, Mayor John Shelly was quoted as saying, “topless is at the bottom of porn;” and it was banned in Saint Tropez. 

The Total Look features ensembles from Moffitt’s own collection, and this is the first time many of them have been exhibited. Catch glimpses on Phil Pinto’s short film Pretty Pretty Peggy Moffit on Nowness.com.


Find out more about The Total Look: The Creative Collaboration Between Rudi Gernriech, Peggy Moffitt, and William Claxton.
See Pretty Pretty Peggy Moffit.
Discover The Rudi Gerneich Book by Peggy Moffitt and William Claxton. 
Order your Topless Suit Tee at MOCA.