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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 1988)
Monday, August 29, 1988/The Battalion/Page 5 esigner started cALLEN (AP) — As a child in je Rio Grande Valley, Ruben ^ Jtrres was a dangerous factor for ^ 1 mother’s wardrobe. He would J sometimes tear up her dresses to cre- ^ new outfits for his sister’s dolls. It was good practice for an adult eer that would see him jolt the hion world in 1964 with creation the “monokini,” the European sion of the topless women’s bath- suit. PYou know a boy drawing worn 's dothing at 10, which is when I rted drawing — in other words I s a natural designer — they would him a sissy,” said Torres. “There sno understanding of course, es- Idally here (South Texas), so I had [breakout of here.” Torres’ break eventually took him Paris, where he now heads design |r Lacoste International, the com- ny that puts its trademark croc- ile on its clothing and accessories. “I’m the one who made the image Lacoste,” said Torres, who has ded for the company since 1970. lam the Ralph Lauren of Lacoste.” [Torres, 56, commutes between Imes in Edinburg in the Rio lande Valley; Paris, France; and [exico City. [He has spent extra time in the lley lately preparing for the IcAllen International Museum’s pt. 3 opening of “Erie and His ntemporaries,” an exhibit taken [om Torres’ collection of Parisian eater art, including art deco post 's, costume renderings and stage tdesigns from 1918-40. Torres believes his 1000-piece coi tion may be the largest of its type the world. Erie, the best known of the de fers featured in the exhibit, ined renown during 20 years as an ustrator for Harper’s Bazaar. Torres, who saved many of the es- ictically and historically important eces from Parisian trash cans, was jrn in the Valley city of Mercedes id grew up 20 miles to the west in IcAllen. He joined the Army in after graduating from South- #n Methodist University in Dallas norl * itha degree in costume design, and credits a stint in Korea with influenc ing his design with Oriental ideas. He returned, determined to work in Paris, but did not know how. “The French at the time didn’t think that Americans had any crea tive talent . . . You wouldn’t even get in the door,” Torres said. So he re-did his portfolio with a Mexican look, posed as a Mexican designer and landed a job as an ap prentice in Paris for over a year, about the time limit then for foreign apprentices in France. The French experience was enough to land him a top design job in New York when he returned. He returned to Paris in 1960 de signing fashions for Nina Ricci. While creating beautiful clothes for rich women, he said he was dis turbed by his own near obsession with women’s breasts. “What was coming out in my de sign work were topless dresses,” Torres said. He had the workers start making the dresses to see what they looked like on the company’s models. The confused models sometimes would put them on backwards, he said. “All right, so already these were the first models that had to be in front of a man with their bosoms free,” Torres said. He decided he had to leave Nina Ricci and its emphasis on wealthy, middle-aged women, because he en visioned “women without tops, with out brassieres, without swim tops.” “In 1964, I decided to leave Nina Ricci, because this was killing me,” although, he said, he did not know who would accept such provocative ideas. He went back to New York, where Women’s Wear Daily gave him six pages to show his topless fashions. Two days later, Austrian-born American designer Rudi Gernreich in New York came out with the “to pless bathing suit.” Torres said he does not think his friend Gernreich had enough time to copy his designs that appeared in Women’s Wear Daily, but that the two came out with the same idea by coincidence. on dolls’ clothes Torres rushed to Paris and re leased his own topless version for Europe, which the European press dubbed the “monokini,” a variation of “bikini.” It earned him denuncia tions from the Vatican and the Sovi ets, but topless bathing has since gained acceptance on many Euro pean beaches. “I’m a provocative designer be cause what I propose is always a little bit strong,” Torres said. After the monokini episode, Torres, long an opponent of the necktie, decided to overhaul men’s clothing, which he said has not ad vanced since the late 19th Century. In 1970, Bernard Lacoste asked Torres to develop an image for the company and it^ knit polo shirts in 12 colors. “I am a very successful designer because what I design can perhaps sell enormously,” Torres said. Bush pays respects at funeral for Daniel AUSTIN (AP) — Vice President George Bush and his wife joined ap proximately 400 people Sunday in paying their respects to former gov ernor and U.S. senator Price Daniel. Daniel died Thursday of a stroke at his ranch near Liberty. He was 77. Bush, who flew from Houston with his wife Barbara, said Daniel had served in the Senate with Bush’s father, Prescott, many years ago. Daniel, a Democrat, was in the Senate in the 1950s, leaving before his first term ended to run for gov ernor. “I admired this man like all Tex ans, and we just wanted to fly over and pay our respects, not only from this generation of Bushes but from the previous one. He’s a great Texan, a great American, and we have great respect for him,” Bush told reporters as he left the First Baptist Church. After the memorial service, Bush and his wife kissed Daniel’s wife, Jean, and shook hands with mem bers of the Daniel family inside the church. A reporter asked Bush if attend ing the service also gave him a chance to meet conservative Demo crats, and the Republiran presi dential candidate replied, “I don’t think so — we’re not very good at that. I think it was more to pay our respects to the family of Price Dan iel.” Three ministers, including Dan iel’s son-in-law David Murph of Richardson, took part in the 23-min- ute service. The Rev. Browning Ware, pastor at First Baptist, said, “Price Daniel loved Texas, and we join him in that affection.” Ware told the story of a 19th cen tury preacher in Texas who said of a friend, “This man had a home in al most every community and in the house of every good man in Texas. “This is true of Price Daniel,” Ware said. Daniel was said to have held more elected jobs in Texas than anyone else, including posts in the executive, legislative and judicial branches as a state House member, attorney gen eral and Supreme Court justice. He retired in 1979 after eight years on the court. Daniel was buried on his ranch next to his son, Price Jr., a former Texas House speaker who was shot to death in 1981. Professor tests toxic secretions ARLINGTON (AP) — Some people receive sterling sums to sniff-test perfumes or cheeses or wines in the civility of a spotless laboratory. Then there’s Dr. Edmund Bro- die out in the field, tasting toad toxins. Much of the University of Texas-Arlington biology chair man’s research concerns preda tor-prey relationships. “When one studies anti-predator secre tions it’s important to know or have some understanding of what you’re dealing with,” he said. There’s really only one way to do that. Taste the secretion. “If it burns the lining, then you can at least have a starting point in research where you can hy pothesize it would burn the mouth of the predator.” Sounds disgusting. “As disgusting as it sounds,” he said, “it’s important that that be done.” Any guy nervy enough to put tongue to salamander fluids de serves a certain fame, and Bro- die’s is worldwide. He was fea tured in Omni magazine in April, and the British Broadcasting Corp. recently sought his advice on the Appalachian salamander for a nature program. “He’s a great colleague to work with,” said Jonathan Campbell, a biology associate professor who has accompanied Brodie on seve ral field trips. “He is one of the most famous scientists in the world on how certain prey inter act with predators.” Indeed, Brodie has written more than 100 papers and four books, but if a professor had not pointed his interest toward sci ence as an undergraduate, he might be teaching a backfield to day instead of future biologists. He had planned to coach high school football, and he received his bachelor’s degree in second ary education. Then he took a bi ology course as a junior at Ore gon College of Education. “It’s the same old story for most people who are professors,” he said. “They went into that line of work because a professor turned them on to that line of study.” The meeting led to a teaching- research career that has spanned the continents. One-of-a-kind masks and colorful handwoven rugs, collected on trips to Guate mala and Africa, cover the walls and cabinets of Brodie’s office. “My hobby is doing research. I’ve only bought masks when I was in some country collecting amphibians and there were masks. As much time as possible I spend in the field. If I get the chance to get in the field and col lect and work with amphibians, rimarily salamanders, that I aven’t worked with before ... I’m gone.” It has been a career of influ ence, and one student Brodie in fluenced now teaches here. Daniel Formanowicz, biology associate professor, worked to ward his master’s degree at Adel- phi University in New York while Brodie taught there. Formanowicz and Brodie once took a group of students to the Catskill Mountains on a field trip. The second day out it began to snow. Two inches an hour. The students got restless. “We didn’t know what to do with them,” Formanowicz re called. “We were sitting around that night in front of the fireplace and we got to talking about snipe.” A snipe is a small bird with a long pointy beak. It inhabits tem perate regions. try First tfltn ated Teller Machines conveniently located all over the Bryan-College Station Area. itvAu to UNIVERSITY DR Stati° n: /I • Mall/ 3 • Br 'l x Houst° n S LOOP pulse FM 2818 (•"IRSTClTY First City National Bank of Bryan 3000 Briarcrest, Bryan 776-5402 Member fdic OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE A REAL FIT! 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