An exhibition that looks at a century of swimwear and the style behind it has landed at the Design Museum, examining Britain’s love of water and swimming over the last 100 years.
Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style opened this month and, amongst many other items, includes 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 looks 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.
Headlining 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 back than the 1990s, stretching all the way to the ’20s when the desire for swimming in the country truly took off. This was when the craze for lidos arrived, the fashion of swimwear began to evolve, and beach holidaying grew in popularity. Splash! journeys 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! include getting to see the Olympic gold medal awarded to Lucy Morton, who won the medal in the Paris 1924 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. The suit was introduced in 2008, when 79 out of 108 world records were broken by swimmers wearing it.
Over three sections, the exhibition houses over 200 objects from more than 50 lenders. It is guest-curated by Amber Butchart—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’ is open now at the Design Museum and will run until August 17, 2025.
🎟️ Find out more and buy your tickets on the Design Museum website.