Bikini was introduced by French mechanical engineer Louis Reard on July 5,1946. It completes 69 years now (2015 ). Bikini’s hit the fashion heights in the 1950s. The original bikini designed by Louis Reard consisted of 30 square inches of fabric. He said it is not a real bikini if it could not be pulled through a ring.

Bikini is named after the Bikini Atoll Islands ( North Pacific ) where the atomic bomb was tested. It was perhaps an indirect recognition of its explosive impact on the fashion scene.

The girl who modelled for Bikini was Michelin Bernardini.

Bikini showed everything about a girl except her mother’s maiden name.

Predominantly Catholic countries banned Bikini.

The first Miss World event ( 1951 ) had the Swedish winner Kiki Hakansson. She was the first and last to wear the Bikini for the crowning ceremony. The Pope condemned the ceremony.

Brigitte Bardot wore the bikini at Cannes ( 1953 ). Diana Dors wore one at Venice Film Festival ( 1955 ).

Bikini sales soared when the song Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini was released in June 1960 by Brian Hyland.

Ursula Andress, the Bond girl, wore one in Dr. NO in 1962.

Playboy first featured bikini on its cover in 1962. Marilyn Monroe last wore it in Something Got To Give ( 1962 ). Bikini made to the cover of Sports International in 1964.

In Johannesberg, SA there was the world’s largest bikini parade in 2009 for breast cancer awareness.

Demi Moor was 40 when she made her bikini comeback in 2003 movie Charlie’s Angels : Full Throttle.

US novelist Erma Bombeck said, ‘ Women shop for a bikini with more care than they do a husband.’

Speedo is the biggest-selling swimwear brand in the world.