Pamela Anderson’s red swimming costume in Baywatch is more than just a pop culture symbol: it’s an icon of an era. Between Halloween costumes, Christmas looks and the global obsession with Anderson, this swimming costume marked a before and after in the world of aquatic fashion. And now, that paradigm shift will be explored in depth at the London Design Museum’s new exhibition Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style.
Beginning in March 2025, the exhibition will dive into the evolution of swimwear over the past 100 years, from the first British lidos of the 20th century to the Mermaidcore resurgence that swept through the post-pandemic. And of course, Pamela’s iconic red swimming costume will be one of the centrepieces. But she won’t be alone: the exhibition will also include the first Olympic swimming medal won by a British woman, the controversial LZR Racer suit (banned for its ‘technical doping’ technology) and one of the earliest surviving bikinis, a rarity in itself.
Featuring over 200 objects from 50 lenders from across Europe, Splash! will be divided into three key sections: the pool, the lido and nature. Along the way, it will look not only at the original function of swimwear, but also at how it evolved to become a potent symbol of style, autonomy and bodily power. From the 1920s to the present, the exhibition invites us to reflect on how design has changed the relationship between the body and water.
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