| Louis Réard | |
| Born | 1897 |
|---|---|
| Died | 1984 |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | automobile engineer, fashion designer |
| Known for | inventing bikini |
Louis Réard (1897 – 1984) was a French automobile engineer who invented bikini in 1946.[1]
Contents |
Invention of bikini
Although Réard was an engineer, he was running his mother's lingerie boutique near Les Folies Bergères in Paris by 1946.[2] Reard and Jacques Heim, his rival designers, were competing to produce the world's smallest swimsuit.[3] Heim developed his swimsuit and called it the "atom" and advertised it as "the world's smallest bathing suit."[4]
In 1946 Réard introduced the bikini. His swimsuit was basically a bra top and two inverted triangles of cloth connected by string and it was significantly smaller. Made out of a scant 30 inches of fabric, he promoted his creation as "smaller than the world's smallest bathing suit." He called his creation the bikini, named after the Bikini Atoll.[4][5] The idea struck him when he saw women rolling up their beachwear to get a better tan.[6]
Réard named the bikini after the Bikini Atoll, which was the site of a nuclear weapon test called Operation Crossroads on July 1, 1946 in the Pacific.[5] During those days, words like "atomic" were beginning to be used by the media to describe something sensational and Réard reasoned that the excitement the bikini would cause would equal that of the bomb.[6]
Marketing of bikini
Réard could not find a model who would dare to wear his design. He ended up hiring Micheline Bernardini, a nude dancer from the Casino de Paris as his model.[7] That bikini, a string bikini with a g-string back made out of 30 square inches (194 cm²) of clothes with newspaper type printed across, was "officially" introduced on July 5, 1946 at a fashion event at Piscine Molitor, a popular public pool in Paris. The bikini was a hit, especially among men, and Bernardini received some 50,000 fan letters.[4] Heim's design was the first worn on the beach, but the genre of clothing was given its name by Réard.[6] Reard's business soared, and in advertisements he kept the bikini mystique alive by declaring that a two-piece suit wasn't a genuine bikini "unless it could be pulled through a wedding ring."[4]
Later life
Réard moved with his wife to Lausanne from France in 1980. He died in 1984 at the age of 87.[8]
Notes
- ^ "Encyclopædia Britannica's Great Inventions". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://corporate.britannica.com/press/inventions.html. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
- ^ Sage, Adam (2006-04-16). "Happy birthday: the 'shocking and immoral' bikini hits 60". The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article705414.ece. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
- ^ "The Bikini: One Of Man's Greatest Inventions". CBS News. July 2, 2006. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/02/sunday/main1773847.shtml. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
- ^ a b c d "Bikini Introduced". A&E Television Networks. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=VideoArticle&id=6949. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
- ^ a b Cocozza, Paula (2006-06-10). "A little piece of history". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2006/jun/10/sttropez.filminspiredtravel.france.culturaltrips?gusrc=rss&feed=travel. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
- ^ a b c Westcott, Kathryn (2006-06-05). "The Bikini: Not a brief affair". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/5130460.stm. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
- ^ Rosebush, Judson. "Michele Bernadini: The First Bikini". Bikini Science. http://www.bikiniscience.com/chronology/1945-1950_SS/LR4601_S/LR4601.html. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
- ^ "Louis Reard, Engineer, Dies; Designed the Bikini in 1946". The New York Times. September 18, 1984. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01EFD6163BF93BA2575AC0A962948260. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
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