The Dawning of the Bikini

In 1962 the Dr No. film audience dropped their jaws on their knees when Ursula Andress emerged from the water in a bikini with a knife attached to her belt. She was tanned, she was blonde, she was to become the sex symbol of her time. With the first ever Bond girls sassy appearance, the bikini was endorsed. Although it made its first entrance in as early as 1932 by the French fashion designer Jacques Heim. He was way ahead of his time not to mention Louis Réard, a French automobile engineer and clothing designer, and father of the string bikini in 1946. They could never even find a model that agreed on wearing this in front of the camera and that was that. Before Ursula Andress, the two-piece you would normally see was the waist hugging boxer brief paired with a cropped top.

The acceptance of scant swimwear was in sync with the young influencing the aesthetics of fashion, women's sexual liberation and a growing interest in travel. Throughout the years, from the introduction of the bikini to the coming years of design evolution, the bikini traces the emancipation of women in terms of sexuality and body confidence.

"...she was to become the sex symbol of her time."

The historic trend of decreasing the size of bikinis seems to have turned as we are navigating to a more covered-up, retro styled inspired swimwear fashion. Now that we have been sexually liberated world travelers for a few decades we thought it is time for something new.