Bikini
Doubtless 1996 includes the 50th birthdays of many life-enhancing inventions. But has any other brought so much joy to user and watcher? The great photographers of the Magnum agency have not let it pass unrecorded
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The mushroom cloud that rose above Bikini Atoll on 30 June, 1946, was the physical evidence of the first post-War atom bomb test, an image that was to strike fear into several generations. Its namesake, launched three weeks later at a Paris fashion show, was the invention of a French engineer, Louis Reard. Its impact was similarly shattering.
Early bikinis may not look skimpy now, but they did then. Predating Schumacher's "small is beautiful" philosophy by two-and-a-half decades, they proved his point to perfection. No garment has been worn by more people of inappropriate shape or size; no garment has aroused so many, so strongly, for so long.
Reard started his bikini daringly: his initial design was a cutaway. The one-piece swimsuit, glamorous for so long, overnight became just - a swimsuit. Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Ursula Andress: bikini-clad images burnt into the brains of middle-aged men.
Perhaps we have moved on from the bikini. Beach toplessness, beach thongness, beach nakedness mean that the bikini is no longer minimalism. But what goes around, comes around, especially in fashion. Minoan wall paintings from 1600bc show two-pieces. No doubt within the next 4,000 years there will come another moment when the newly reinvented two-piece swimsuit leaves the world breathless
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments