Hadiya Kim & Iris Denis Suarez
If you’ve been keeping up with us at HKS, then you know what all the hype surrounding the month of July is about. Not only is July the peak of summer, our cities are slowly opening back up, the sea is calling, and most importantly - we are dropping a f*cking bikini line. This month at our office we are celebrating and highlighting the creation of the first modern bikini ever made. The history of fashion is so important, and we all know that history repeats itself. It is only fair that we give credit to the designers who have come before us, who’ve inspired us, and who have set the tone for the world's biggest trends to date.
Post World War II changed fashion as a whole. Between the years of 1941 and 1949, due to high demand for war garments, materials for civilian fashion became extremely limited. In 1942, the US War Production Board (WPB) issued the General Limitation Order 85, better known as ‘order L-85’. This regulation placed rules on things such as sleeve length, skirt length, hem width, even color selections. According to The Chicago Tribune, these restrictions “affected every kind of clothing made out of materials important for the war effort, with the exception of wedding gowns, maternity clothes, infants’ wear, clothes for children up to the age of 4, religious vestments and burial shrouds.” The more expensive the fabric was, the stricter the guidelines were. Instead of letting these guidelines curb the production and consumption of fashion and style, designers and Fashion Houses wielded them, creating an entire new vision.
The idea of more revealing clothing due to lack of supplies inspired designers worldwide. In the 18th century, women's swimwear was made out of fabrics such as flannel, wool, and canvas - all much to heavy to swim comfortably in. Jacques Heim and Louis Réard, prominent French designers of the time, developed competing prototypes of swimwear. Heim called his design the ‘atom’, and promoted it as “the world's smallest bathing suit”. Réard contradicted this statement by creating an even skimpier model. Made with only thirty inches of fabric, he advertised his creation as “smaller than the world’s smallest bathing suit”. Réard's prototype, which resembles more of what we refer to as the modern bikini, was a bra top and two inverted triangles of fabric connected by string - a significantly smaller design than Jacques’.
Let us set the stage shall we?
The Date: July 5th, 1946
The Location: La Piscine Molitor (a popular swimming pool in Paris, France)
Parisian show girl, Micheline Bernardini, modeled a new and daring fashion trend that Louis Réard coined as the ‘Bikini’. This term was inspired by the U.S atomic test that took place off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean that same week. What a metaphor for the EXPLOSION that the Bikini caused in womenswear soon after it’s debut. If it weren't for the brilliance that was the mind of Louis Réard then we wouldn't have enjoyed each and every variation of the bikini since its conception. High rise, string, halter, thong, low cut…...need I say more?
The Hadiya Kim Swim 2020 ‘High Fashion’ bikini line drops TOMORROW at 12 PM EST!! I hope you are all as excited as we are. Our micro kinis feature a reversible backside, adjustable bra coverage, and will definitely be the topic of conversation at the beach, the pool, sh*t wear it at the grocery store. Don’t forget your PPE! Lets all enjoy our summer safely and in style.
XOXO,
IT GIRL
Any new styles to keep up with this 2021 szn?