This clothing during the 1960s was influenced by hippie pop culture and the use of the drug lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD, also referred to as acid. The heightened awareness of color and texture while on the drug resulted in surrealistic, optical, oscillating, and pulsating designs and patterns, which included tie-dye. Designers jumped on the trend and created some of the most avant-garde creations such as Diana Dew's vinyl dress that "turned-on" (a popular hippie term) in sync with music and was quite popular with the disco set. The trend, which started as a grass-roots movement, eventually made its way into the top echelons of the fashion chain with Yves Saint Laurent, Pucci, and Halston creating prints and expensive clothing with psychedelic overtones. The trend ebbed in the early 1970s but resurged in the 1980s when the look appealed to a new youth culture group.
Historical Dictionary of the Fashion Industry. Francesca Sterlacci and Joanne Arbuckle.