About Bikini Day
The first modern bikini really was itsy bitsy and teeny weeny - "Le bikini", a suit of four triangles made from only 30 inches of fabric, made its debut in Paris on July 5th 1946.
The bikini's creator was Louis Reard. Mr Reard was a French automotive engineer by profession but in the mid-1940s, he was running his mother's lingerie business.
He had noticed women on the beaches of St Tropez rolling up their bathing suits to try to get a better tan. He and French designer Jacques Heim were in competition to produce the world's smallest swimsuit. While Mr Heim's two-piece was the first to be worn on the beach, it was Mr Reard that gave the bikini its memorable name.
It was debuted shortly after the first US post-war nuclear tests on the South Pacific Bikini atoll. Words like atomic were beginning to be used by the media to describe something sensational and, no doubt, Mr Reard reasoned that the excitement the bikini would cause would equal that of the bomb.
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