Design Museum, LondonThis illuminating exhibition about all things swimming charts the birth of the bikini, its rapid shrinkage, lovely lidos – and the costumes that went too farFour days after a nuclear bomb was first detonated over the Pacific islands of Bikini Atoll in July 1946, the French designer Louis Réard launched a provocative two-piece swimsuit at a poolside party in Paris. The two events might not seem to be connected. But Réard, who had been looking for a name for his design that would embody the tiniest garment imaginable, combined with the most explosive impact possible, hit on the almighty atomic blast as the ideal symbol. And so the modern bikini was born.The world’s first bikini now hangs on a mannequin in the Design Museum in London, looking decidedly less earth-shattering than it did back then. Formed from baggy triangles of pink fabric, printed with a newspaper pattern and tied together with string, it looks a bit like someone has fashioned a quick cossie out of...
The "Splash!" exhibition at the Design Museum in London explores the history of swimwear, from the birth of the bikini and its shrinking size, to lidos and controversial costumes. It features the world's first bikini and examines the swimsuit's evolution alongside cultural events like the atomic age.
