Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style
Location
Design Museum
224-238 Kensington High Street
London
W8 6AG
Description
This exhibition has has not opened yet
This exhibition runs from Friday 28th March 2025 to Sunday 17th August 2025.
Explore the full spectrum of the design of swimming — from sports performance and fashion, to architecture.
What to expect
Across three in-depth sections that reflect the three locations in which we swim — the pool, the lido and nature — the exhibition will dive into design’s role in shaping our relationship with swimming, both in the water and beside it.
The exhibition’s story will begin in the 1920s, when swimwear began to be marketed for swimming rather than the Victorian’s preference for bathing, and when beach holidays exploded in popularity. It will explore right up to the present day, and swimming’s role in modern life such as how it influences and subverts our ideas of body autonomy and agency, as well as its link to environmental issues.
Discover over 200 objects, collectively exploring swimming’s evolution in its social, cultural, technological and environmental contexts, including Pamela Anderson's sensational Baywatch swimsuit, the first Olympic solo swimming gold medal won by a British woman, and a selection of eye-catching men’s Speedos from the 1980s. Other objects on view will be 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.
Splash! is 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.
Prices
Other price options
Contact and Booking Details
More information at this website.
Reserve tickets at this website
Upcoming Dates
This exhibition runs from Friday 28th March 2025 to Sunday 17th August 2025.
Forthcoming dates:
Disclaimer
The information and prices in this listing are presumed to be correct at the time of publishing, but please always check with the venue before making a special trip.
All images are supplied by the exhibition organiser.
Design Museum
224-238 Kensington High Street
London
W8 6AG
This exhibition runs from Friday 28th March 2025 to Sunday 17th August 2025.
This event runs over several days/weeks. Dates include:
March 2025
- Fri 28th Mar 2025
(10:00am to 6:00pm) - Sat 29th Mar 2025
(10:00am to 6:00pm) - Sun 30th Mar 2025
(10:00am to 6:00pm) - Mon 31st Mar 2025
(10:00am to 5:00pm)
April 2025
- Tue 1st Apr 2025
(10:00am to 5:00pm) - Wed 2nd Apr 2025
(10:00am to 5:00pm) - Thu 3rd Apr 2025
(10:00am to 5:00pm) - Fri 4th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 6:00pm) - Sat 5th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 6:00pm) - Sun 6th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 6:00pm) - Mon 7th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 5:00pm) - Tue 8th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 5:00pm) - Wed 9th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 5:00pm) - Thu 10th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 5:00pm) - Fri 11th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 6:00pm) - Sat 12th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 6:00pm) - Sun 13th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 6:00pm) - Mon 14th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 5:00pm) - Tue 15th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 5:00pm) - Wed 16th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 5:00pm) - Thu 17th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 5:00pm) - Fri 18th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 6:00pm) - Sat 19th Apr 2025
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(10:00am to 6:00pm) - Mon 28th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 5:00pm) - Tue 29th Apr 2025
(10:00am to 5:00pm) - Wed 30th Apr 2025
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May 2025
- Thu 1st May 2025
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June 2025
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July 2025
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