Tales From Void: Surface of Coconuts

collage for national bikini day 2025

On 5 July 1946, a Frenchman called Louis Réard unveiled a “bikini” at the Piscine Molitor, a Parisian swimming pool. Featuring a print of newspaper pages, the forerunner of today’s string bikinis comprised four triangles. A consummate self-publicist, Réard invited the press to see his scandalous creation. It was worn by a showgirl, Micheline Bernardini, as apparently no “respectable” model would wear such a scant garment.

The bikini was launched four days after the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests began, and it was this event in the Pacific Ocean that dominated press coverage in Britain immediately afterwards, rather than the risqué fashion innovation of a Frenchman. “Bikini” thus had associations with nuclear explosions as well as a tropical paradise (its transliterated name means “surface of coconuts”).The tiny size of the atoll was reflected in the diminutive piece of clothing, which Réard later boasted could be pulled through a wedding ring.Of course, prior to 1946 women wore two-piece swimwear, most notably during the 1930s. Another Frenchman, Jacques Heim, had developed a two-piece bathing suit in 1932, calling it the “Atome”, but this had had a low take-up.