Reard's suit was a refinement of the work of Jacques Heim who, two months earlier, had introduced the "Atome" (named for its size) and advertised it as the world's "smallest bathing suit". Reard split the "atome" even smaller, but could not find a model who would dare to wear his design. He ended up hiring Micheline Bernardini, a nude dancer from the Casino de Paris, as his model.

Bikini Atoll (also known as Pikinni Atoll) is an uninhabited 6.0-square-kilometer atoll in one of the Micronesian Islands in the Pacific Ocean at 11°30'N 165°25'E. It is a member of the Marshall Islands. It consists of 36 islands surrounding a 594.2-square-kilometer lagoon. As part of the Pacific Proving Grounds it was a site of more than 20 hydrogen and atomic bomb tests between 1946 to 1958.

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Preceding the nuclear tests, the indigenous population was relocated to Rongerik Atoll. The tests began in July 1946. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, some of the original islanders returned from Kili Island but were removed because of the high radioactivity.

For examination of the fallout, several rockets of the types Loki and Asp were launched at 11°35'N 165°20'E.

Micheline Bernardini was a nudist dancer at the Casino de Paris before being chosen by Louis Reard to model the first modern-day bikini on July 5 1946.

Her bikini modeling career was short-lived as she had only taken one picture, which gave confidence to other women to view themselves in a bikini, which was Reard's official purpose for her