The History of the Bikini: A Theory

by
Michael P. Londrigan

July 5th was the supposed anniversary of the bikini.  I say supposed because I have proof that the bikini or a reasonable facsimile thereof was designed and worn some thousands of years ago. 

Image of old bikini styles
Michael Londrigan

A blog post by Michael P. Londrigan

Michael P. Londrigan is a fashion industry veteran with 30 years of industry experience.  Michael started his career with J.C. Penney in their menswear department and then moved to the wholesale side, specializing in product development, sales, marketing and merchandising. He has authored textbooks on fashion supply chain management and menswear, and is currently the Chair of the Business Department at LIM College.

Yes, Louis Réard has long been credited as the designer who brought the bikini to the world of fashion when it was first modeled on Micheline Bernardini in 1946 but on a trip I took to Sicily a few years ago I happened to come across some beautiful mosaic tiles that actually depicted eight women in what I would consider bikini like attire. 

These mosaics were discovered in a ruin in the town of Taramina at an archeological dig called the “Roman House”.  Although called the Roman House it was more like a compound that was built and then buried in a land slide in 1 BC and not discovered until the 17th century by a Sicilian farmer.  The Sicilian government first started to resurrect the site in 1934 and had to stop due to WWII.  The process of resurrecting the site resumed in 1957 and it continues today.  The most interesting aspect of this ruin was how the intricate mosaics have been so well preserved and they appear in every room in the compound.  But as you can see the outfits certainly look like they could have been an inspiration for Reard so I would contend that the bikini is a lot older than anyone could realize!   

Michael Londrigan

A blog post by Michael P. Londrigan

Michael P. Londrigan is a fashion industry veteran with 30 years of industry experience.  Michael started his career with J.C. Penney in their menswear department and then moved to the wholesale side, specializing in product development, sales, marketing and merchandising. He has authored textbooks on fashion supply chain management and menswear, and is currently the Chair of the Business Department at LIM College.