The return of the 1950s Riviera aesthetic

«The ugly is attractive, the ugly is exciting,» stated Miuccia Prada in an interview for Show Studio in 2020. The comeback of the 1950s swimsuit, also known as the ugly swimsuit, in recent advertising campaigns, on catwalks, and even on red carpets demonstrates how contemporary fashion is still fascinated by the curiosity generated by a timeless garment, now considered "ugly". The most recent manifestation of this trend occurred at the Cannes Film Festival, where, for the photocall of the film Kind of Kindness, actress Hunter Schafer wore a custom-made dress by Prada which, according to stylist Dara Allen, was inspired by women's swimsuits in full "French Riviera" style. A body framed by ruffles, an apron tied at the waist, and a bandana gathering the hair, the look is halfway between a wedding dress and the uniform of a laundress (think of the stage costumes of the Second chorus of washerwomen in "La gatta Cenerentola").

The ugly swimsuit in fashion

Bottega Veneta

Dolce&Gabbana

Lazoschmidl

The trend of the ugly swimsuit has undergone a sort of transformative cyclicity in the sense that, over time, it has never completely disappeared but has taken on different forms and meanings from cinema to fashion and even sport. Can this ugly yet sexy swimsuit ever become everyday wear? According to Matthieu Blazy, creative director of Bottega Veneta, yes: in the maison's SS24 fashion show, the final chapter of the Italian trilogy, and in the advertising campaign of the collection, the designer proposed a typical 1930s one-piece swimsuit, transformed into everyday wear paired with heels or loafers as if it were an evening gown. However, the ugly swimsuit has never been chic, or at least until the Belgian designer re-presented it on the runway as a kind of travel uniform for "a daily Odyssey". Along the same lines, for SS24 of Dolce&Gabbana and for FW24 of Lazoschmidl, the brands recreated the buttoned-up one-piece pajamas and high-waisted boxer sets that resemble typical early 1900s men's beachwear.

Aaron Piper at Dsquared2 SS25

Louis Gabriel Nouchi

The one-piece swimsuit is often identified as sportswear even on catwalks, like the full seascape diving suits proposed by Nicolas Ghesquière for Louis Vuitton's Resort 2024, or the cycling bodysuits found in both Gucci's Resort 2024 and Acne Studios' FW24, reminiscent of superhero and spy uniforms - think of the indestructible costumes designed by the ironic and cynical stylist Edna Mode for the "Incredibles" family (2004), or the bodysuit worn by the fascinating Eva Kant in the comic book Diabolik. We cannot fail to mention the uniforms of sports wrestlers and the uncomfortable singlets used particularly for wrestling, bodybuilding, and freestyle wrestling featured in Louis Gabriel Nouchi's FW24 and in Dsquared2's SS25, where we found tight-fitting, legless bodysuits worn over tailored or cargo pants. In this regard, the male romper, also used as swimwear, is a garment worn by strippers in queer clubs and has entered the LGBTQI+ community's imagination, laden with erotic meanings. On this point, in a Vice article from 2014 "The Underlying Eroticism of Wrestling," artist and photographer Ben Mcnutt recounts the homoerotic aesthetic of hand-to-hand combat as a tradition dating back to ancient Greek civilization. More recently, French designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin for the FW24 collection has proposed BDSM bodysuits and sets that echo this silhouette, inspired by the work of Robert Mapplethorpe.

Chanel

Coperni

Mowalola

Skims

This particular type of one-piece swimsuit has also been used by Kim Kardashian for her Skims underwear brand in the mid-thigh bodysuit model, which, despite being designed to be worn under clothes and to shape the wearer's body, is often worn "naturally" for everyday looks. Furthermore, Mowalola, in collaboration with the Yeezy brand, created the now viral WET bodysuits recently worn by current it-girls such as Bianca Censori, pop star Tyla, and singer Chlöe Bailey. Meanwhile, Marine Serre in SS24 and Coperni in the Resort 2025 collection have used the classic one-piece bodysuit worn over tights and jeans, reminiscent of Olivia Newton John in the Physical music video in the early 1980s. The ugly swimsuit, in its contemporary variations, is present in the recent Resort 2025 fashion show by Chanel presented in Marseille, where Virginie Viard has included one-piece swimsuits that appear to be made of tartan and are embroidered with buttons and pockets, almost reproducing a typical cardigan over body and shorts that recall 1930s crochet swimsuits. Also in the SS24 fashion show of the French maison, Viard proposed striped culottes and polka dot ones worn with tank tops of the same print similar to those beach outfits worn by young Californian Francine in the 1959 romantic comedy "Gidget" or like the striped bodysuit worn by the first Barbie model from 1959.

The ugly swimsuit in cinema

Foxcatcher

Innamorato Pazzo

Borat

The ugly swimsuit has also been associated in cinema on various occasions with the "comedian's uniform". Above all, British actor Sacha Baron Cohen in the famous film Borat (2006) brought to the big screen the fluorescent green mankini, a deliberately ridiculous parody version of the one-piece swimsuit, now chosen by the boldest as a disguise for costume parties. Another emblematic case is that of Adriano Celentano who in the film Innamorato Pazzo (1981), especially in the diving scene from the springboard, playing the part of a clumsy water polo player trying to impress his beloved Cristina, played by Ornella Muti, wears a black one-piece swimsuit with a belt at the waist and a white cap. Not to mention the so-called "armhole" swimsuits of Fantozzi, the high-waisted boxers worn by Raimondo Vianello and Ugo Tognazzi in the film Una domenica d'estate (1962) and the colorful short pants worn by Alberto Sordi on the beaches of the Costa Smeralda in Le Coppie (1970) with Monica Vitti. Instead, we find typical singlets in more recent films such as Foxcatcher (2014), in which Channing Tatum plays Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz, or in Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010) where protagonist Gregory Heffley wears a red unitard for a school wrestling match. These sports uniforms are often used as stage costumes in circus performances, worn by trapeze artists and clowns who mock the tight-fitting leotards of bodybuilders.

Deborah Kerr

Esther Williams

While for men the one-piece swimsuit seems to still be associated only with certain sports disciplines and comedic sketches, for women the big screen has represented its transformations. The first women's swimsuits were true knee-length dresses often made of soft wool and closed with a metal buckle at the front. Esther Williams in Easy To Love in 1953 was among the first actresses to wear a shorts-style swimsuit in a film, considered too revealing for the time. We also think of From here to Eternity (1951), in which Deborah Kerr wears a succinct black swimsuit in the scenes of passion by the sea with Burt Lancaster. In the 1960s, attempts to enhance the female body through various swimsuit designs before the advent of the bikini in the 1980s led to numerous design solutions that today may seem somewhat amusing but have sufficiently interesting silhouettes to be reintroduced on catwalks.

While the ugly swimsuit in Fashion Week or at the Cannes Festival may seem fascinating, far from the glamour of the most attended social events it may struggle to fit into "normal" wardrobes. Journalist Lou Stoppard writes for Show Studio that to wear something ugly, you must have a tremendous amount of self-confidence. This choice challenges social norms because you wear a garment that "simply others do not want" or do not have the courage to wear. Behind what may seem just one of the many over-the-top trends that fashion proposes, there is a central reflection. When a garment is worn in contexts that do not normally belong to it, it automatically becomes ugly in the eyes of many. This complex countercurrent attitude, however, has always been rooted in the creative process of many designers, and perhaps that is precisely what drives yesterday's and today's trends more than ever. Or, as in this case, their comeback.