IThey have their eyes turned towards the horizon. He wears a black undershirt, she a “two-piece swimsuit with garnet red briefs and red and white alpaca tank top, in the style of‘a sweater “. At least that’s what the legend says. Divers, famous photograph by Russian photographer George Hoyningen-Huene.
Taken in the summer of 1930, the image shows a couple sitting on a diving board, their backs to the photographer to better contemplate the sea. But there is no sea: the photograph was actually taken on the roof of the magazine’s studio. Vogue, which dominates the Champs-Elysées. The diving board is nothing more than a superposition of crates and wooden planks.
Appreciated by fashion magazines (including Vogue, therefore) for his outdoor shots, his compositions of elegant simplicity and his high-angle shots, George Hoyningen-Huene often captured, during the 1920s and 1930s, swimmers dressed in elegant swimsuits by Jean Patou, Lucien Lelong or Elsa Schiaparelli. Pieces of great sobriety, with refined shapes, sometimes barely decorated with a geometric pattern, which accompanied the slow emancipation of women and the liberation of bodies.
From Normandy beaches to movie stars
After years spent on the beach covered from head to toe – at the beginning of the 20th centurye century, proper bathing attire consisted of a long, corseted dress, made of cotton or wool, covering the entire body to avoid any traces of tanning, which was considered popular and therefore vulgar – women could finally take their ease. From 1910, sleeves became shorter, as did the legs of bathing pants. With the help of the Industrial Revolution, the Normandy beaches of Deauville and Trouville were invaded by the bourgeoisie, who adopted a more form-fitting one-piece swimsuit the following decade.
Celebrities of the time also enjoyed the joys of sea bathing: with her short bob, endless legs and graphic swimsuits, the French singer, actress and novelist Suzy Solidor perfectly embodied this new modern and intrepid woman who loved fresh water and the bite of the sun. While the following decades saw the appearance of patterns, ornaments and other synthetic materials, the swimsuit in its most minimalist version continued to be emulated.
It works particularly well on screen, (un)dressing the actresses of the moment: Romy Schneider in a white one-piece in The swimming pool (1969), Bo Derek and his almost tone-on-tone swimsuit in She (1979), Virginie Ledoyen in a lagoon blue two-piece in The beach (2000). At a time when sport inspires creators of all kinds, it is now tending again towards purity, declined in sober and sensual natural shades.
