Five years earlier, French engineer Louis Réard and dancer Micheline Bernardini officially presented a new women's swimsuit: the bikini. Social prejudices prevalent in the mid-20th century delayed the acceptance of the two-piece, which freed women from many centimeters of fabric when appearing in public at a beach or swimming pool.
To promote this creation, the young London publicist Eric Morley came up with the idea of creating a beauty pageant as part of the Festival of Britain program. He gathered a group of 26 girls—all European, and most of them British—willing to parade in the tiny and controversial garment. Thus he launched the Festival Bikini Contest, which the British press dubbed Miss World.
The election took place on July 27, 1951, at the Lyceum Ballroom in the English capital, where the Swedish Kiki Hakanson was crowned, showing off her curves almost in their natural state.
Seeing the commercial potential of the contest's new name, Morley rushed to register it, intending to continue the tradition, sensing the possibilities of a format that could fit into the entertainment world. Even back in his days as a captain, he had been tasked with creating entertainment activities for the troops.
Her intuition didn't fail her. In the early days, she dedicated a great deal of effort to expanding and consolidating the pageant. In the second edition, she replaced the bikini with a one-piece swimsuit, in accordance with the condition imposed by several countries for sending representatives. By the end of the 50s, she was already beginning to gather more than thirty candidates.
She also dedicated herself to talent scouting. In 1955, for example, she crossed the Atlantic to attend the Miss Universe pageant. There, she noticed one of the 15 semifinalists who had a different look. She invited her to travel to her competition. And she won. Susana Duijm became the first Venezuelan to participate and win, and also the first Latin American to achieve the title.
With her began a story that has been repeated by: Pilín León (1981), Astrid Carolina Herrera (1984), Ninibeth Leal (1991), Jacqueline Aguilera (1995) and Ivian Sarcos (2011), awaiting what will happen with Mística Núñez, next September 5, in Vietnam.
In 1959, Miss World received a major boost when it was broadcast by the BBC, achieving high ratings. In 1980, it adopted the slogan "Beauty with a Purpose." And since 2000, when Julia Morley took over after the death of her husband, the pageant has undergone many changes, such as the elimination of the swimsuit competition—a somewhat ironic move, given that it was the reason for its creation 75 years earlier.
