Louis Réard created the bikini. The first one was made with a newsprint fabric and consisted of a halter and a tanga. The name bikini is associated with the atomic bomb.
He named it after Bikini Atoll in the Pacific, the site of the Operation Crossroads nuclear weapon test on July 1, 1946. The reasoning was that the burst of excitement created by it would be like a nuclear device.
Wikipedia
American women spend nearly a billion dollars each year on bikinis. But according to a fashion historian Olivier Saillard the bikiini became popular not because of the power of the fashion industry but because of the power of women.
"The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women."
Fast Company pays homage to the bikini featuring today's eco-friendly bikini brands that use everything from bamboo, soy, organic cotton and recycled plastic bottles.
The article also offers a bit of history about the bikini's first appearance in France.
At the time, the skimpy swim suit was so scandalous that not a single model agreed to wear it down the catwalk--and in the end, designers had to enlist the help of a professional stripper, Micheline Bernardini, to debut their two-piece creation.
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