Today marks the anniversary of one of the most controversial fashion debuts of the 20th century.
On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Réard unveiled a new two-piece swimsuit at a swimming pool in Paris. The swimsuit was so revealing by the standards of the day that professional models reportedly refused to wear it. Réard instead hired Parisian showgirl Micheline Bernardini to introduce the design to the public.
Réard called his creation the “bikini,” naming it after Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, where the United States had recently conducted a highly-publicized atomic bomb test. He hoped the swimsuit would create an equally explosive reaction — and it did.
While two-piece bathing suits already existed, they typically covered the navel and exposed only a small portion of the midriff. Réard’s version used just 30 inches of fabric and revealed far more skin than was considered acceptable in the 1940s.
The bikini was initially banned or restricted in several countries, including Spain and Italy. In the United States, it remained controversial throughout the 1950s before gaining widespread acceptance during the early 1960s, aided by popular music, beach movies, and California surf culture.
Nearly 80 years later, the bikini remains one of the most recognizable swimwear designs in the world, and it is a reminder that even something as simple as a swimsuit can reflect changing attitudes about fashion, culture, and society.