LONDON, March 27 — From an Olympic gold medal to Pamela Anderson’s Baywatch red bathing suit, a new exhibition dedicated to all things swimming opens at London’s Design Museum this week.
“Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style” features more than 200 items that look at our love of water since the 1920s, be it at the lido, the pool or in nature.
British fashion expert and guest curator Amber Butchart poses with swimsuits on display at the ‘Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style’ exhibition at the Design Museum in London March 24, 2025. — Reuters pic
“The show explores the last century of swimming through the lens of design,” Amber Butchart, guest curator of the exhibition, told Reuters at a press preview yesterday.
“We begin in the pool, we move into lido, and then we end in nature and each of those sections allows us to explore different themes, whether it’s materials and making, whether it is the… evolution of swimwear as a fashion object, or whether it is swimming in outdoor spaces and the architecture that allows access for that.”
A staff member looks at ‘Movement’ (2020) a photograph by Maria Svarbova on display at the ‘Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style’ exhibition at the Design Museum in London March 24, 2025. — Reuters pic
A variety of colourful swimwear from various decades takes centre stage, including a 1950s bikini and a selection of 1980s Speedo briefs alongside an edition of the famed red suit Anderson wore to play lifeguard CJ Parker in Baywatch in the 1990s.
Items date from a 1920s example of rental swimwear to more contemporary and adaptive designs.
British fashion expert and guest curator Amber Butchart poses with swimsuits on display at the ‘Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style’ exhibition at the Design Museum in London March 24, 2025. — Reuters pic
Also on show are various items belonging to Olympians — including the first Olympic solo swimming gold medal won by a British woman as well as diver Tom Daley’s Team GB trunks.
“Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style” runs from March 28 until August 17. — Reuters