The first Museum dedicated to beachwear opened its doors in Germany on 5 July 2020, the anniversary of the presentation of the bikini, created by Louis Réard, in 1946 at the Piscine Molitor in Paris.
It is located in Bad Rappenau near Frankfurt, in the heart of eight other international tourist attractions. This 19th-century spa town is also the birthplace of two historic German swimwear factories: Benger Ribana and Felina. With the establishment of the first World Museum for Swimwear and Swimming Culture, Bad Rappenau (which is part of Baden-Württemberg) is turning into the capital of swimwear.
The BikiniARTmuseum « BAM » will be the first place in the world to gather all the historical and contemporary knowledge we hold on the bathing industry, spread on an area of 2,000 square metres.
It will centre on 400 bathing pieces (selected from the collection’s 1,200 items), covering the periods from 1870 up to the present day. The exhibition will present several swimsuits worn during the very first public baths, including some very rare historical pieces.
Many iconic brands will be on display, such as Jantzen, Triumph, Catalina, but also Dior, Chanel and Pucci. But the masterpieces of the collection are undoubtedly the twelve original swimsuits from Louis Réard, the inventor of the bikini, whose showpiece was a golden lurex bikini – a unique piece created specifically for Miss Réard in the 50s, which makes it the most valued two-piece swimsuit in the world.
The exhibition will also show swimsuits worn by the biggest celebrities, such as Marilyn Monroe’s black velvet and lace swimsuit which will be displayed in a special staging with pictures shot by Frank Powolny for the movie ‘Love Nest’. It will be exhibited next to bathings suits worn by Scarlett Johansson, Eva Green, Esther Williams or Joan Collins as well as Laetitia Casta or Miss Universe Iris Mittenaere. This « celeb » section is one of the strengths of the world’s most valuable beachwear collection.
Historical anecdotes and advertisements will add to the collection, highlighting the historical context of each swimsuit over time.
The Museum, as its name suggests, will also feature art and culture revolving around swimwear, including paintings, sculptures and photographs, as well as temporary exhibitions, the first of which will be devoted to « Bunny Yeager, the Pin-Up Queen » with original prints on loan from the Schulster Gallery in Miami.
To keep the visit festive, visitors will be able to take advantage of a wide variety of interactive elements and enjoy numerous film screenings in every room. The most spectacular will be the movie about Louis Réard, which will be shown on five giant screens equipped with the latest technology: 20 minutes of entertainment and a trip back in time!
The BikiniArtMuseum was created thanks to Alexander Ruscheinsky, a German businessman who invented and launched the system of private rest areas on German motorways.
During a stay in Brazil, he met a 70-year-old woman who told him about her extraordinary life and fired his imagination when she shared her photo albums illustrating the Brazilian « dolce vita » of the 60s. She was dressed in a bikini most of the time, on the most beautiful Brazilian beaches or on yachts alongside Caroline de Monaco or Jean-Paul Belmondo. Her dream was to create a museum dedicated to the Bikini, to tell the story of this outfit which she sees as inherent to her country’s « way of life ».
Back home, Ruscheinsky could not stop thinking about this encounter. He started to look into the history of swimwear and discovered a fascinating topic. As there was no premises dedicated to this theme, he started to develop the vision of a museum dedicated to the Bikini, but wanted to surround himself with specialists to add credibility to his project.
He travelled to France to meet Ghislaine Rayer and Patrice Gaulupeau who had just published a book ‘Bikini, la Légende’ and were the owners of the largest private collection of swimwear and lingerie, better known as the ‘Nuits de Satin Collection’, with they had already displayed in many exhibitions around the world.
Ruscheinsky, being an architect and a builder, could design the format, Ghislaine and Patrice would provide the content and their expertise.
BikiniARTmuseum is thereby the result of a collaboration with Ghislaine Rayer and Patrice Gaulupeau who have been its consultants for the past 4 years, alongside many other international swimwear experts, such as gallery owner and museum curator (« WEAM ») Helmut Schuster or Bruce Wigo, who was President of the International Hall of Swimming from 2005 to 2019 (ISHOF) in Fort Lauderdale, USA.
Alexander never met Alda again. He would have liked to tell her that her idea of a private Bikini exhibition in Rio de Janeiro had actually turned into the first World Museum of Swimwear and Swim Culture. “But maybe one day she’ll walk into the museum and say, “Bom trabalho, meu amigo!”*” *Good job, my friend!
BikiniARTmuseum
Buchäckerring 42
74906 Bad Rappenau
GERMANY
https://en.bikiniartmuseum.com/
