All about Louis Rard, a French automobile engineer who created the bikini

Louis Réard, a French automobile engineer and clothing designer, introduced the modern two-piece bikini in July 1946. He was the first person to officially design and name the midriff-baring bathing suit ‘bikini’ and ran a bikini shop for 40 years.

In 1946, Réard produced his swimsuit design which was a string bikini consisting of four triangles. When he sought a model to wear his design at its debut presentation, none of them agreed and he then went on hiring 19-year-old nude dancer Micheline Bernardini to model in it.

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He introduced his new swimsuit, which he named the bikini, to the media and public in Paris on 5 July 1946. His launch coincided with the news of The US military testing a nuclear bomb on the Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific.

His move was criticized too as moral guardians were convinced that women should don skirts and long aprons instead of shamelessly taking their clothes off.

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Later, the brand started focusing on a special bikini collection and after 75 years, the bikini can still be found at fashion shows, beaches, and pools the world over. In July 1962, Playboy magazine featured bikinis for the first time, in a very artistic manner. It only showed a woman’s tanned thighs. Also, the Olympic Committee in 1993 made the bikini the official uniform for women in the beach volleyball game.

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Later, supermodels like Claudia Schiffer, Linda Evangelista, and Naomi Campbell walked the runway with the best of bikini trends. 

Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot and Indian stars like Sara Ali Khan, Disha Patani too remained faithful to bikinis.