_One piece: Relaunching the bikini

by Richard Emanuel

Louis Réard was an engineer and clothes designer who inherited a small Parisian lingerie boutique from his mother in the late 1930s. At the end of the Second World War he developed a two-piece swimsuit, which exposed the woman’s navel like never before. He called it the bikini, after Bikini Atoll – where nuclear tests were being carried out – as he thought his invention would have an explosive impact for women.

When launched in 1946, the bikini was scandalous but it also provided a touch of frivolity after such a dark period in history. Réard worked with limited resources but he had a lot of imagination and it’s easy to imagine he would still be pushing the envelope if he were here today – such were the standards he set in marketing and innovation.

I was so captivated by Réard’s story it surprised me no one had really done anything with it. Yet despite the brand’s wonderful story and heritage, I was aware that unless you produce something people actually want to buy, it doesn’t matter. Our positioning is luxury resort wear for women so the product has absolutely got to match that in quality and design.

The debut Réard collection will be kept quite tight for the first year or two but the vision is to grow into a global luxury swim- and resort-wear brand, to build something that lasts and is sustainable as a business. Réard launches online at reard.com this spring and the first standalone boutique will open in Paris next year. After more than 70 years, it’s nice that a Réard store will be opening in Paris once again. The story has gone full circle.