An exhibition that looks at a century of swimwear and the style behind it is landing at the Design Museum in London early next year, and it’ll be examining Britain’s love of water and swimming over the last 100 years.
Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style arrives in March 2025 and will, among many other items, include a display of the red bathing suit worn by Pamela Anderson in Baywatch, as well as the medal won by Lucy Morton; the first Olympic solo swimming gold won by a British woman.
Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style
The exhibition will take a look at all aspects of swimming over the last 100 years, with elements including sports performances, the architecture of pools & lidos, and, of course, the style.
A headliner of the fashion side of the exhibition is the very swimsuit worn by Pamela Anderson in Baywatch, which drew estimates of 1.1 billion viewers to its show every week during its boom in the ’90s. Anderson played the character known as CJ Parker, and the red suit is reputed to be the most famous piece of swimwear on the planet!
But the exhibition begins further away than the 1990s, stretching all the way back to the ’20s when the desire for swimming in the county truly took off with the craze for lidos arriving and the fashion of swimwear beginning to evolve and beach holidaying growing in popularity. It will then journey through how trends have changed up to the present day and how swimming’s role in society has developed. One moment you’ll be looking at the architecture of the triangular Jubilee Pool in Penzance – which opened in 1935 and has been developed into the UK’s first geothermal-powered seawater pool – and the next you’ll be learning about the ‘Mermaidcore’ trend of the 2020s.
Other highlights at Splash! including getting to see the Olympic gold medal awarded to Lucy Morton, who won the medal in the Paris 124 games and was the first British woman to win a Solo Olympic swimming title. It’s on loan from the Blackpool Showtown museum and will be one of the oldest items on display.
You’ll also be able to take a look at the controversial LZR Racer swimsuit, which was banned after being deemed ‘technical doping’ due to its advantages in performance after its introduction in 2008 when 79 of 108 world records were broken by swimmers wearing it in the first year due to speed advantages.
Over three sections, the exhibition will house over 200 objects from more than 50 lenders and is guest-curated by Amber Butchart – who is known for the historical segments on The Great British Sewing Bee – alongside curator Tiya Dahybhai from the Design Museum.
Speaking on the news, Amber 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.”
‘Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style’ arrives at the Design Museum, on March 17 and will run until August 17, 2025. You can find out more and buy your tickets here.