In July 1946, two unrelated events collided in name and impact: the detonation of a nuclear bomb at Bikini Atoll and the public unveiling of the most revealing swimsuit the world had seen. French engineer-turned-designer Louis Réard introduced a garment so daring that no professional model agreed to wear it.
Instead, he turned to nude dancer Micheline Bernardini to debut it at a Paris poolside pageant. Réard called his four triangles of fabric a “bikini,” a reference to the atomic test site just days earlier. He predicted the swimsuit would be as explosive as the bombs—and he wasn’t wrong.
July 1946: A Bomb and a Bikini
On July 1, 1946, the United States conducted “Operation Crossroads,” a nuclear test at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. Just four days later, on July 5, Réard’s new swimsuit design appeared in public for the first time. European women had already adopted modest two-piece suits in the 1930s, but Réard’s version exposed the navel, something never seen before in swimwear.
Jacques Heim, another French designer, had launched a similar but less revealing design called the “Atome” only weeks earlier. Réard countered with an even smaller suit and claimed it was “smaller than the world’s smallest bathing suit.”
A Name from the Atoll
Réard’s decision to name his suit after the Bikini Atoll was no accident. The atoll had been in the news due to atomic bomb testing. Advertisers and media were already linking female sexuality to atomic power.
Actor Orson Welles, married to Rita Hayworth at the time, announced that the first bomb dropped on Bikini would be decorated with a large image of Hayworth, referencing her role as Gilda in a popular film. Réard joined this trend by packaging his bikini in a matchbox and stating it could fit through a wedding ring.
Fashion Meets Cold War Hype
Réard’s bikini was banned in several U.S. states and denounced by the Vatican. Yet it persisted, aided by postwar fabric rationing and shifting cultural norms. Hollywood helped the bikini’s slow acceptance, with Brigitte Bardot and Annette Funicello wearing versions in films.
In the U.S., the bikini became part of a consumer culture that linked sexuality and atomic imagery—songs like “Atomic Baby” and “Radioactive Mama” played into these associations. By the 1960s, bikinis like those from Mabs of Hollywood appeared in American collections and fashion magazines.
From Ban to Beachwear
Although Réard’s original bikini was shocking, modern iterations became increasingly mainstream.
The garment that once caused public outrage now appears on magazine covers, beaches, and runways around the world. Yet its provocative reputation, rooted in postwar politics and nuclear imagery, still lingers nearly 80 years later.
In July 1946, French designer Louis Réard introduced a swimsuit so revealing no model would wear it.
Named after Bikini Atoll, the site of a nuclear bomb test days earlier, the “bikini” debuted on a nude dancer and ignited outrage across Europe and the U.S…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/H0pKqwX8uu
— Detective Tiger’s Stories (@TigerDetective) June 26, 2025