Space 1999, Fashion, Gender and Rudi Gernreich

Quite a distinctive feature of the science fiction series "Space: 1999" is the design by avant-garde fashionist Rudi Gernreich. Gernreich (1922-1985), mainly known for his single-piece topless "monokini" which he introduced in the 1960s, fled to the US after the German Anschluss. He reflected on the effects of fashion on gender roles and envisioned that by 1980 unisex clothes would be more or less established and male and female dress would be interchangeable (Paoletti & Brush Kidwell, 2011).



- Paoletti, J. B. & Brush Kidwell, C. (2011). Men and Women: Dressing the Part. in: Welters, L. & Lillethun, A. (eds.) The Fashion Reader. Oxford, New York: Berg.
- Rudi Gernreich and Peggy Moffitt (photographs via and via)