From March 28 to August 17, 2025, the design museum celebrates one hundred years of Swimwear with Splash! At Century of Swimming and Style: over 200 iconic pieces to tell the evolution of the swimsuit and our link with water, between fashion, culture and innovation.
From 28 March to 17 August 2025, the London Design Museum hosts Splash! A Century of Swimming and Stylean exhibition that explores the evolution of bathing fashion and our relationship with water in the past hundred years. Curated by Amber Butchart, the exhibition has over 200 objects, including iconic costumes, Olympic memorabilia and architectural projects related to swimming, offering a complete overview of aesthetics and aquatic culture.
From the origins to the bikini: the evolution of the swimwear
The history of swimwear reflects the social and cultural changes of society. In the nineteenth century, the costumes were long heavy clothes that covered a large part of the body, limiting the movements in the water. With the advent of the twentieth century, there was a progressive reduction of the fabric and greater attention to functionality. In 1913, Carl Jantzen introduced the first two -piece costume, composed of shorts and tank top.
The real turning point took place in 1946, when the French tailor Louis Réard presented the bikini, a revolutionary garment that took its name from the bikini atoll, home of nuclear tests, to underline its explosive impact on fashion.
Icons and innovations: the highlights of the exhibition
The London exhibition presents a selection of costumes that have marked the history of bathing fashion. Among these, the famous red costume worn by Pamela Anderson in the series Baywatchsymbol of the nineties, and the white bikini of Ursula Andress in the film Agent 007 – license to killconsidered one of the most iconic bikini of all time.
There is no lack of examples of technological innovation, such as the LZR Racer costume, banned from competitions for the advantages it offered to athletes, and inclusive models designed for different types of body and gender identity.
Beyond the costume: water as a social and cultural space
Splash! It is not limited to examining the evolution of the Swimwear, but also explores the role of water as a social and cultural space. The exhibition includes sections dedicated to British Lidos, public swimming pools and swimming experiences in nature, highlighting how swimming was a means of promoting health, inclusion and personal freedom.
Particular attention is paid to the communities that have found in the water a place of expression and resilience, such as the Haenyeo, the South Korean underwater fishing, and the London collective Swim Dem Crew.
