The bikini owes its name to an atoll in the Marshall Islands, a nuclear test site in the 1940s, as if to emphasise its explosive effect. Like tan overly-hot wash, time and social changes have had a shrinking effect on the two-piece swimming costume: from bikinis with a super high waist, to triangle versions with ties or even a Brazilian cut. Quite the contrary, its disruptive character seems to withstand even the hottest washes.