It is the swimming costume that got millions of TV viewers hot under the collar on a Saturday teatime. And now UK Baywatch fans are going to be able to get the opportunity to get up close and personal with the world’s most famous red swimsuit with only one disappointing downside – Pamela Anderson won’t be wearing it.
The sensational one-piece worn by Pamela’s character CJ Parker in the original 1990’s Baywatch saw the series draw over 1.1 billion weekly viewers worldwide and can lay claim to being the most famous piece of swimwear ever created. It will feature alongside the first Olympic solo swimming gold medal won by a British woman, and a pair of Tom Daley’s Speedos worn while competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, in the Design Museum’s major new exhibition on swimming – Splash!
The surviving garment was worn by Anderson during her tenure on the show from 1992 to 97 and is being loaned loan to the London museum from the BikiniARTmuseum in Germany — who acquired the piece from the collection of Anderson’s co-star David Hasselhoff and All-American Television in 2023.
Baywatch’s swim costumes were based on swimsuits worn by real lifeguards in Southern California. Each of the actors were given costumes specially adapted for their specific proportions. The popularity of Baywatch put the one-piece back in the spotlight, and it became synonymous with former glamour model Anderson and the show. Its status was further elevated by often featuring in Anderson’s slow-motion running scenes, which became a signature visual of the series.
It forms the centre piece of Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style — which opens to the publicon Friday — examining the UK’s enduring love of water over the past 100 years: from Britain’s lido boom during the early 20th century, to the viral Mermaidcore trend of the 2020s.
Other remarkable objects on show in the exhibition include the banned ‘technical doping’ LZR Racer swimsuit, one of the earliest surviving examples of a bikini, and a detailed architectural model of the Zaha Hadid-designed London 2012 Aquatics Centre.
In total over 200 objects — from around 50 lenders across Europe — feature in Splash!, collectively exploring swimming’s evolution in its social, cultural, technological and environmental contexts.
It is being guest-curated by Amber Butchart, a dress and design historian and broadcaster known for her history segments on BBC One’s The Great British Sewing Bee.
She 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.”
Tim Marlow, Director and CEO of the Design Museum, said: “The story of swimming is more than just a story of sport, as our new exhibition makes abundantly clear. By examining the culture of swimming through the lens of design, we explore a range of evolving ideas about the way we have lived from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present, from materials and making to leisure, travel, performance, wellbeing and the environment. It’s another innovative exhibition that shows visitors to the Design Museum the profound impact of design in almost every aspect of our lives.”
