Happy Birthday to the Bikini
One week after the first United States post-war nuclear tests on the South Pacific Bikini atoll, French designer Louis Reard launched his two-piece swimming costume on the public on July 5 1946.
Made of three triangles of material held together with ties, the bikini was considered so shocking that Reard had to use a nude dancer from Paris's famous Lido nightclub to model it, French fashion historian Olivier Saillard says.
One week after the first United States post-war nuclear tests on the South Pacific Bikini atoll, French designer Louis Reard launched his two-piece swimming costume on the public on July 5 1946.
Made of three triangles of material held together with ties, the bikini was considered so shocking that Reard had to use a nude dancer from Paris's famous Lido nightclub to model it, French fashion historian Olivier Saillard says.