Bikini at 80: A Symbol of Female Risk-Taking Still Selling Millions

The bikini, named after the Pacific atoll where nuclear tests were conducted, was designed to have an explosive impact. Its creator, Louis Réard, introduced it on July 5, 1946, at the Piscine Molitor in Paris. For eight decades, the garment has been inextricably linked to questions of who is allowed to show what. The bikini was a greater shock to patriarchal authorities than the atomic bomb dropped just four days earlier over the namesake atoll. The beach, where wealthy members of Western societies pretend to be relaxed, reveals their fears more clearly than anywhere else. The bikini remains a symbol of female risk-taking and continues to be sold millions of times over.