The bikini may now be a common sight on most modern beaches, but rewind 70 years ago and it was a very different story.
The year was 1946 and Europeans were enjoying their first war-free summer in years. With a new found mood of liberation, French designers were attempting to create fashion and clothing to match.
It was from here the first modern bikini was born.

Two-piece bathing suits had been around almost a decade earlier, typically made up of a halter top and high waisted shorts, revealing only a sliver of midriff.
However war time fabric rationing meant fashion houses were getting creative with the classic swimsuit by using less fabric - and showcasing more flesh in the process.
The swimsuit was shrinking.
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There were in fact two designs who went head to head with the first prototypes of what we now know as the bikini.
Jacques Heim called his 'the atom' and dubbed it "the world's smallest bathing suit". However the version created by Louis Réard, a French automobile engineer and clothes designer, was technically smaller, made up of a bra top and two upside down triangles tied together with string for bottoms.
Created out of just 30 inches of fabric, Réard naturally advertised his as "smaller than the world's smallest bathing suit".