GERNREICH, Rudi. Fashion Will Go Out of Fashion.

(Cologne): Dumont, 2000. First edition. Slim Quarto. 252 pages. German text. Superb catalogue Steirische Herbst” avant-garde festival in Graz, Austria. Texts are by Nobel prize winner Elfriede Jelinek, Peter Weibel, Harry Hay, Victoria Steele and Layne Nielson. Gernreich used clothes as a lens for social commentary and as statements on gender and sexuality. The designer championed a futuristic, as well as androgynous aesthetic in his work, anticipating the gender-bending direction fashion design would take in years to come. Among his most famous styles were bold, color-clashing, art-inspired patterns and provocatively short shift dresses, and thongs for men and women. But perhaps the most sensational garment Gernreich designed was the “monokini,” a topless swimsuit, a statement on liberating women from the tyranny of constrictive undergarments and conservative attitudes toward breasts. Illustrated throughout. A very good copy in cloth covers.