Bikini
- Date
- 1946 · confidence high
- Place
- Paris, Île-de-France, France
- Credited to
- Louis Réard
- People
- 👤 Louis Réard1897–1984
- Field
- Tools
What it is
A minimal two-piece swimsuit presented on 5 July 1946 at the Molitor pool in Paris by the dancer Micheline Bernardini. Its name alludes to Bikini Atoll, where nuclear tests were taking place at the time.
Jacques Heim presented the 'Atome' (two-piece) a few weeks earlier, and Réard stole the headlines with an even smaller design. The original bikini was cotton with a newsprint pattern.
What it led to
- beachwear and reduced swimwear fashion
- swimwear industry and shifting social norms about the body
- mass uptake in the 1960s through film and advertising