Bikini's 60th anniversary

After having songs, films and books dedicated to it, the world's smallest piece of clothing has turned 60. Where would Brigitte Bardot, Ursula Andress and Raquel Welch be if designer Louis Reard hadn't invented the bikini? And Brian Hyland's Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini would have never seen the light of the day.

In 1946, French engineer-turned-fashion designer Louis Reard and designer Jacques Heim were competing to bring out the smallest ever swimsuit. In the times of the testing of nuclear weapons in Marshall Islands, the two were trying to come up with their own atom bomb. Heim seemed to be winning the race with his creation, Atome, which made its debut in Cannes, before Reard dropped a bombshell with his innovative swimsuit – two handkerchiefs sewn together. He named the itsy bitsy piece the 'bikini' after Bikini Atoll, where the nuclear testing was being carried out.

Not surprisingly, the next-to-nothing outfit did not go down too well with the masses or the conservatives. It wasn't easy to find a model for the scandalous outfit either. But Reard found his model in Casino de Paris' nude dancer Micheline Bernardini who was photographed in the new creation on July 5, 1946.

Full Story Here