On July 5, 1946, at the Piscine Molitor in Paris, Réard unveiled his design. It was brazen, consisting of a triangle top and a scanty bottom that dipped below the navel. Because he believed his design was as explosive as the nuclear tests happening at the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, he named it the "Bikini."

The became the official uniform of the sexual revolution. Women could choose to expose skin on their own terms. By the 1990s and 2000s, the bikini had evolved into a billion-dollar industry, with brands like Sports Illustrated dedicating entire issues to bikini -clad models.

Choosing a bikini should be about celebrating your style, not stressing over rules [3]. Today’s brands offer everything from "cheeky" cuts to full-coverage sets to suit every comfort level [13].

Three weeks later, mechanical engineer and auto-designer-turned-fashion-designer Louis Réard dropped a bombshell—literally. He realized that the current two-pieces on the market still utilized too much fabric. He wanted something shocking, something that exposed the navel, which was considered a taboo area of the female body at the time.

What comes next for the ? Technology is infiltrating swimwear. We already have self-tanning bikinis that change color in the sun, UV-sensor bikinis that alert you when to reapply sunscreen, and "second-skin" bikinis made from seamless 3D knitting that produce zero fabric waste.