If you keep up with the Fashion Calendar, or live in Miami then you know that we live in perpetual summer. It's like Fashion Week....year round. Miami is a fashion designer's haven wooing local & foreign fashionistas to gather together in swanky hotels and turn pools into runways to present the designs that will make waves in 2017. I'll be honest though, every year it feels like we keep seeing the same thing, reversible/chevron print/floral print/splatter print/or new print, how can I put this gently....i'm bored! Give me something truly different, truly unique, truly provocateur. I don't mean the "wear just a string between your cheeks" provocative but ignite my mind. Have you heard of the saying "ask and you shall receive"? Well...that's exactly what I got! So I now present to you....a Bikini design so innovative, Swim Week 2016 wasn't ready for this.
The Monokini 2.0, a social art project in which Finnish designers set out to re-examine popular culture's views and expectations of a woman's ideal body and then set out to change it.
The original idea for Monokini 2.0 came from Elina Halttunen, PhD, or as she is kindly referred to as "the woman with one tit".
By combining courage, beauty and fashion, they created a bikini that would set out to change society's views on body idealism and empower the altered yet beautiful bodies of breast cancer survivors.
The fact is that believe it or not, the majority of women who have undergone a mastectomy do not wish to have breast reconstructive surgery but would rather just continue to live their life with one breast or none at all.
Forced to choose between a padded bikini and have one breast appear larger than the other, trying to add padding to just the part that goes over the missing breast, wearing uncomfortable prosthesis, or choosing an unpadded bikini and going natural are their only options...at least for now.
For women who just want to love their new bodies and develop a healthy body image, forcing them to make their altered bodies fit into a bikini that was not designed for their specific needs is truly ridiculous given that we're living in 2015.
“I do not want to hide, I do not want to stop swimming, I do not want to undergo extensive plastic surgery operations, and I do not want to be forced to use the uncomfortable prosthesis on the beach. I want to feel as free and active as I did before my cancer, and Monokini 2.0 gives me a chance to do exactly that.”
-Elina
“On my long and sometimes tough journey with breast cancer, the Monokini 2.0 project has been an amazing experience. I hope that my picture will give strength, belief and courage to the women who have gone through a mastectomy: womanhood is not all about breasts (or not having them). I hope that within this project the discussion of these matters will become easier and more natural.”
- Sirpa
The photographer Pinja Valja wanted to create not just beautiful images but truly inspiring photos featuring courageous, real breast cancer survivors modeling the one-breasted swimsuit designs by the various designers.
After seeing the first published photo of model Sirpa wearing the swimsuit by Tärähtäneet Ämmät (shown above), Monokini 2.0 was contacted by the other models wanting to participate in the project. If there was ever a sign to prove that this was going to be a truly special project....that was it.
– Kristiina
– Virve
“Cancer has drilled holes to my bones and taken away my breast, that’s all. I don’t let it in my mind to steal all the precious things in me. I've heard from many people “you are so brave”, but with you, first time, I really felt like it. ‘To infinity and beyond’.”
– Marjaana
“When I heard about this project I knew I HAVE TO participate in it! I knew I had to challenge myself to do this, just had to.
We've been watching Top Model (USA) for soooo many seasons now with my kids, it looks so easy to get a good pic….so this was extremely fun to try out what it´s really like. I did find out pretty quickly that posing isn't easy at all, just a simple pose was hard work. You really have to put your soul into this, otherwise the photos don´t turn out that good at all. But, I loved it !!! This was my moment of glory (since I've never even been married…) somebody did my make-up, my hair, told me what to wear… The team really made me look good and the were lots of fun to work with. Thank you for having me and guess what, I love the photo of myself. :)”
“Being part of this project has been very empowering and I thank you for that! I hope that through these pictures everyone can find strength, courage and certitude to endorse herself/himself. Everyone is perfect exactly as they are!”
We've been watching Top Model (USA) for soooo many seasons now with my kids, it looks so easy to get a good pic….so this was extremely fun to try out what it´s really like. I did find out pretty quickly that posing isn't easy at all, just a simple pose was hard work. You really have to put your soul into this, otherwise the photos don´t turn out that good at all. But, I loved it !!! This was my moment of glory (since I've never even been married…) somebody did my make-up, my hair, told me what to wear… The team really made me look good and the were lots of fun to work with. Thank you for having me and guess what, I love the photo of myself. :)”
– Camilla
- Milsse
“This is absolutely the most remarkable project that I've ever seen, heard, or been part of; considering that there is no need to see women with mastectomy as sad persons. It shows that the project has achieved maybe even more that it originally was planned. Happy and proud to be part of it, a big thank you!”
-Reeta
THE MONOKINI 2.0 MANIFESTO
(in their own words):
We think that the current focus on a breast-reconstruction after mastectomy as the only way to a full life, is a breast-fixated way of seeing what a woman is. We want to incite a positive self-image of breast-operated women by showing that you can be whole, beautiful and sexy even with just one breast or with no breasts at all. Our other aim is to dig into the restrictive social taboo on what is considered appropriate – of exposing something that is not there. Seeing an exposed breast is considered nakedness, but why is exposing no breast also considered nakedness?
“It had to do with more than what to wear on the beach. It was about a changing culture throughout all society, about freedom and emancipation.”
— Rudi Gernreich,
designer of the original Monokini
Show your support and follow them on social media!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Monokini2
Instagram: https://instagram.com/monokini2
Twitter: https://twitter.com/monokini2point0
Support Monokini 2.o via Kickstarter or visit Monokini 2.0 to learn more about this wonderful project.
You know I don't like to close without leaving you with an inspiring music video, and I felt that Britt Nicole's "Ready or Not" featuring Lecrae was perfect for this post. So go ahead and sing along because every movement needs a theme song.
And if you're new around here CLICK HERE to support my little blog and stay up-to-date with my latest posts! Thanks in advance!
Think Posh . Speak Life . Inspire Miami
-Eva
These ladies look beautiful. I did not know what to expect after reading the first few sentences of your post. I was pleasantly surprised. Beauty comes in many forms and these swimsuits do such a great job of showcasing that.
ReplyDeleteSharon
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Thank you for taking the time to read Sharon, i'm so glad you enjoy it! Yes, you are so right, I cannot wait to see these swimsuits on the runway!
DeleteWow! They all look beautiful.
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It was named after the "Bikini Atoll", the home of many nuclear explosions in the Pacific Ocean. Just a few weeks after the one piece swimsuit "Atome" was billed as "the smallest swimwear in the world" this new style of swimwear was said to "split the Atome" and thus the two piece swimwear sensation that was the bikini was born. Bikini
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