The Design Museum has made a splash by opening an exhibition dedicated to swimming – with a rare swimsuit worn by beach legend Pamela Anderson during her spell making waves in the 1990s TV series Baywatch.
Spotlit and suspended by wires in a cabinet with security glass, the iconic red swimsuit takes pride of place in Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style. The display even features ‘erect nipples’ to acknowledge Pamela’s stand out features when she played Californian life guard C.J Parker from 1992-97.
The minimal costume, with its high cut lines that were tailored to accentuate the actress’s famous beach-ready curves, is on loan from Germany’s BikiniART museum- the “international museum of swimwear and bathing culture”. The flimsy piece of fabric that ignited a billion fantasies and as many TV ratings was once owned by David Hasselhoff – the actor and creator of Baywatch – and was bought amongst a bundle of artefacts when he sold his All-American Television company in 2023.
The Splash! exhibition has many exhibits of a more sober nature that tell the story of swimming from the 1920s to the modern day. Among them are the first Olympic solo swimming gold medal won by a British woman – Lucy Morton for the 200m breaststroke title at the 1924 Paris games – and a pair of diver Tom Daley’s Speedos worn while competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, plus a jumper he knitted during the tournament.
The exhibition of more than 200 objects, from around 50 lenders across Europe, is guest-curated by Amber Butchart, a dress and design historian and broadcaster known for her history segments on BBC One’s The Great British Sewing Be. It runs until 17th August.
Ms Butchart said: ‘It’s incredible to be showing Pamela Anderson’s iconic Baywatch swimsuit in the exhibition, especially at this pivotal point when she has reclaimed her own image, and has designed and modelled her own swimwear. I live in Margate and I grew up in a seaside town, and as a fashion historian, understanding our relationship with water through design and clothing has always been at the heart of my work. So it’s a delight to bring this exhibition to the Design Museum. The history of swimwear and swimming is fascinating as it mirrors wider changes in society over the past century, whether that’s around issues of bodily autonomy and agency, or how we spend our leisure time.’
Also on loan from the BikiniART is one of the earliest bikinis. Two-piece swimwear was first called a bikini in July 1946, when French designer Louis Réard debuted his design at the Molitor pool in Paris. It was named after Bikini Atoll, the site of American nuclear test explosions. Réard’s first bikini design featured newsprint. One of the earliest surviving examples of this, from 1951, is on show.
The Design Museum stated: ‘Across three in-depth sections that reflect the three locations in which we swim — the pool, the lido and nature — the exhibition dives into design’s role in shaping our relationship with swimming, both in the water and beside it. Visitors will discover the full spectrum of the design of swimming — from sports performance and fashion, to architecture.
‘The exhibition’s story begins in the 1920s, when swimwear began to be marketed for swimming rather than the Victorian’s preference for bathing, and when beach holidays exploded in popularity. It explores right up to the present day, and swimming’s role in modern life such as how it influences and subverts our ideas of body autonomy and agency, as well as its link to environmental issues.’
Tim Marlow, Director and CEO of the Design Museum, said: ‘The story of swimming is more than just a story of sport, as our new exhibition makes abundantly clear. By examining the culture of swimming through the lens of design, we explore a range of evolving ideas about the way we have lived from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present, from materials and making to leisure, travel, performance, wellbeing and the environment. It’s another innovative exhibition that shows visitors to the Design Museum the profound impact of design in almost every aspect of our lives.’
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The Citizen View. Two CCz
If this exhibition was a piece of beach wear, it would be the skimpiest of bikinis that would make even Pamela Anderson blush. There are some interesting elements that tell a few lengths of the story of swimming, but it seems crazy that such a modest exhibition should run for five months across such a big space. The pool feels half empty and it seems extravagant to lay on so much for so little. Far from being a splash, it’s more of a belly flop into shallow water.
