The Secret Life of the Man Who Invented the Topless Swimsuit

Rudi Gernreich arrived in Los Angeles in 1938, a sixteen-year-old Austrian Jewish refugee whose first steady job was washing bodies in a hospital morgue. In 1964 he designed the monokini, a topless swimsuit that the Vatican's newspaper and the Soviet press condemned in the same summer, and which he had never meant to sell. He also designed the No Bra, the modern thong, and a 1970 unisex collection he described as a statement about the equality of men and women. This episode covers his Vienna childhood in his aunt's dress salon, the summer he and Harry Hay canvassed the gay beaches of Malibu with a peace petition, his founding role in the Mattachine Society under the single initial "R," the 1964 monokini and the arrests that followed it, and the soft unstructured bra that turned out to be his most consequential design. ------------- Find our Podcast on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music or where ever you listen to your podcasts. ------------- Watch our other videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM3OqLHVo6eGkl86dsCJlWdQg9UNuNoWm https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM3OqLHVo6eH5hSfUOdjVzGLZxfJOKbeG -------------- 💬 Which fashion icon should we explore next? Let me know what you think in the comments. 👍 Like, 🔔 subscribe, and click the bell so you never miss an icon. https://www.youtube.com/@TheFashionMemoir ✨ Remember: in fashion as in life, be fearless and fabulous — this is The Fashion Memoir.