Micheline Bernardini (born 1 December 1927) is a French former nude dancer at the

Casino de Paris The Casino de Paris, located at 16, rue de Clichy, in the 9th arrondissement, is one of the well known music halls of Paris, with a history dating back to the 18th century. Contrary to what the name might suggest, it is a performance venue, not ...

who agreed to model, on 5 July 1946, Louis Réard's two-piece swimsuit, which he called the

bikini A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features two triangles of fabric on top that cover the breasts, and two triangles of fabric on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but exposing the navel, and the back coveri ...

, named four days after the first test of an American nuclear weapon at the

Bikini Atoll Bikini Atoll ( or ; Marshallese: , , meaning "coconut place"), sometimes known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 1800s and 1946 is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a central lagoon. After the Second ...

Réard's bikini

Designer Louis Réard could not find a runway model willing to showcase his revealing design for a two-piece swimsuit. Risqué for its time, it exposed the wearer's navel and much of her buttocks. He hired Bernardini, an 18-year-old nude dancer from the Casino de Paris, as his model. He introduced his design, a two-piece swimsuit with a

g-string A G-string is a type of thong, a narrow piece of fabric, leather, or satin that covers or holds the genitals, passes between the buttocks, and is attached to a waistband around the hips. A G-string can be worn both by men and by women. It may al ...

back made out of of cloth with newspaper type pattern, which he called a bikini, at a press conference at the

Piscine Molitor ''Piscine Molitor'' (; also known as the ''Piscines Auteuil-Molitor'' or the ''Grands établissements balnéaires d'Auteuil'') is a swimming pool and hotel complex located in Porte Molitor, 16th arrondissement of Paris, Île-de-France, Paris, ...

, a popular public pool in Paris in July 1946. Photographs of Bernardini and articles about the event were widely carried by the press. The ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...

'' alone ran nine stories on the event. The bikini was a hit, especially among men, and Bernardini received over 50,000 fan letters.

Later life

Bernardini later moved to Australia. She appeared from 1948 to 1958 in a number of revues at the

Tivoli Theatre, Melbourne The Tivoli Theatre was a major performing arts venue in Melbourne's East End Theatre District, located at 249 Bourke Street. The theatre's origins dated from 1866, with various remodelling and rebuilding throughout its history. Its final building ...

. Footage of her 1946 modeling appearance was featured in an episode of the reality television series ''Love Lust'' titled ''The Bikini'', in 2011. Bernardini posed at age 58 in a bikini for photographer Peter Turnley, in 1986.Photo by Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
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References

;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernardini, Micheline 1927 births Living people French female erotic dancers People from Colmar French female models French emigrants to Australia Bikinis