A special exhibition at the Bikin Museum features 15 Winehouse bikinis and clothing items to mark the anniversary of her death. Photo: dpa
Eleven years after the death of Amy Winehouse, the world's first bikini museum is inviting fans of the legendary soul singer (and revealing two-pieces) to a special exhibition centred on 15 Winehouse bikinis and clothing items.
The exhibition (July 23, 2022 - March 31, 2023) – part of what curators say is the "largest collection of swimwear in the world" – is entitled "Between Blues and Bikini", the German museum announced.
The world's first bikini museum, by its own account, is located between the cities of Frankfurt and Stuttgart, and displays some of the most valuable bikinis in the history of swimwear.
Last year a bikini and other items worn by the soul singer joined those of Marilyn Monroe, Scarlett Johansson and countless other celebrities in the south-west German town that calls itself the "capital of swimwear".
The Bikini Art Museum in Bad Rappenau says it's now the first time it's displaying the coral-coloured two-piece by Amy Winehouse after curators bought the bikini with striking metal rings at auctions in Beverly Hills last year for US$1,250 (RM5,560).
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"The exhibits vividly illustrate Amy Winehouse's very personal relationship with swimwear and build a bridge to her life away from the stage and the spotlight," curators say.
The English singer, known for soulful songs like "Back To Black" and "Rehab", died in 2011 at the age of 27.
The exhibition also aims to shed light on the myth of the 27 Club, as Winehouse, who died on July 23, 2011, was among what's said to be a disproportionately large amount musicians to have died at the age of 27, alongside Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.
Among other major exhibits at the museum are the golden two-piece by bikini inventor Louis Reard and two bikinis worn by film stars 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 1,500sqm 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 Reard.
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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
