At Germany's Bikini Art Museum, the red garment will now be staged in the exhibition gallery alongside the original red trunks worn by Baywatch co-star David Hasselhoff, the museum says. Photo: Bikini Art Museum
The swimsuit in which Pamela Anderson famously sprinted along the beach in slow motion is set to join other world-famous swimwear in a German museum dedicated to bikinis after curators bought the famous red one-piece for US$27,500 (RM127,256).
Over 40 enthusiasts bid at auction for the swimsuit that Pamela Anderson wore as a lifeguard in the NBC series Baywatch between 1989 and 2001.
The US auction house Heritage had auctioned off more than 900 rarities in Dallas from over 100 Hollywood films and TV productions such as Star Trek and Batman in early June.
The red garment will now be staged in the exhibition gallery alongside the original red trunks worn by Baywatch co-star David Hasselhoff, the museum says.
"This is another sensational building block for our hip museum," said museum director Marco Preisser.
The world's first bikini museum, by its own account, is located in the town of Bad Rappenau between the cities of Frankfurt and Stuttgart, and displays some of the most valuable bikinis in the history of swimwear.
Among other major exhibits at the museum are the golden two-piece by bikini inventor Louis Reard and two bikinis worn by film stars Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot.
Rather than trying to pull in readers of the Victoria's Secret catalogue, the so-called Bikini Art Museum is trying to focus on the cultural history of swimwear and how designs have changed from 1870 to the present.
Of around 1,200 exhibits spread over 1,500sq m of exhibition space, the museum's highlight is probably a collection of 12 of the original 16 two-piece models developed on July 5, 1946 by bikini inventor Louis Reard.
Preempting the shock it would cause, the French designer named his explosive new design after Bikini Atoll, the Marshall Islands site where atomic bomb testing had taken place the same year. July 5 has since been named National Bikini Day.
The museum's curators say the story of the bikini is not just one of fashion trends and beach culture, but also of arrests, scandals and the gradual emancipation of women.
Beyond modern swimwear, the museum also traces bathing culture back to the towel-and-string approach in the Middle Ages and to the bathing carts of the 18th century. - dpa
