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THE RUDI GERNREICH BOOK |
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1966, in London, wearing the "Ringo" Suit (with Dennis Deagan and Sir Mark Palmer). (photograph © William Claxton) As the Mods and Rockers fought it out for fashion supremacy in London and the Beatles kicked off the Hair Happening, Gernreich saluted Ringo Starr by naming his vested, pin-striped flannel pantsuit of fall 1965 the Ringo look. England returned the compliment when the LondonSunday Times gave Gernreich Its international fashion award for his part in "establishing the current world fashion for the unconstructed look of clothes and influencing American women's fashion through his sportswear and lingerie." Moffitt and Claxton accompanied Gernreich to England to receive the award. Moffitt remembers, "After the show, RUdi, Bill, and I went to Paris. I met Dorian Leigh and she encouraged me to stay there for modeling jobs with her agency. Rudi, too, encouraged me to stay in Europ_he said that it would be good for my career. And so I did, working for almost a year in both Paris and London. Years later, Rudi told me that even though he knew it would be best for me to stay in Europe he was afraid he could not design without me. That was one of the most touching things he ever said to me." In August 1965, what was to become a long-standing feud with Women's Wear Daily surfaced in publisher John Fairchild's book The Fashionable Savages. In her review of that book, New York Herald Tribune's Eugenia Sheppard wrote, "I think he [Fairchild) underrates Rudi Gernreich, one of the real creators. His objection that Gernreich's clothes are badly constructed is just the point-a rebellion against couture-type fashion that John Fairchild won't accept." The high price of high fashion was troubling the designer even more than Sheppard suspected. On January 3,1966, Gernreich broke American fashion's unwritten rule that name designers don't sell to chain stores by signing with Montgomery Ward to create a special group of exclusive designs. The agreement lasted several seasons, proving to both Gernreich and Montgomery Ward that original design can be popular at popular prices.
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