Diary

From the pale and diaphanous complexion of 19e century women to the caramel skin of the 60’s models, the ideal of beauty has evolved over time. Throughout centuries and fashion, suntan was criticised and then envied, until better awareness about the dangers of sun exposure emerged in recent years. From Renoir’s Bathers to Gisele Bunchen, times have been a changin…

When pallor was fashionable

A quick stroll through a museum to observe the Rubens or Poussin work and then later Renoir and Manet’s painting will suffice to notice how pale is women’s skin depicted, almost transparent. An ideal of beauty that we can also find in literature, especially in the 19th century when many heroines from Emma Bovary to Marguerite Gauthier, were described with pale ill-like skin complexion.

This was an era when a woman, in order to be considered as beautiful, needed to have a very pale colour complexion and dark hair. With the birth of the social hygiene movement at the beginning of the 20th century, came better awareness about the sun’s benefits. It was thus rapidly praised for its therapeutic values, but not yet aesthetic.

People with tuberculosis and anaemia were sent for “sunbathes” of moderate consumption. At that time, suntan was reserved for workers and the middle classes. The aristocracy on the other hand needed to have a pale complexion. It is only in the mid 20’s, that slowly, we got used to the idea of a light tan complexion, arguably thanks to Coco Chanel!

From Coco to Bardot : tanning for everyone

Legend has it that Coco Chanel, while on vacation in Deauville, got sunburnt by inadvertence. Her family and friends immediately marvelled at her subtle tanned complexion! But the real change occurred in the mid 30’s that when the then Popular Front alliance gave birth to annual paid leave in France. French people discovered the pleasure of holidaying in the sun, bodies are little by little uncovered and spirits unleashed.

Simultaneously, in 1935, Eugène Schueller – founder of L’Oréal, created the “Ambre Solaire” product line, which was the first range of cosmetic products meant to protect the skin from the sun! Tanning will only become really fashionable after the Second World War in the 50’s and 60’s. From Brigitte Bardot and her amazing tanned body in Roger Vadim’s film “And God Created Woman”, to Ursula Andress’ sculptural body in James Bond’s “Dr No”, actresses were setting the tone! A few years later, Romy Schneider and Alain Delon turned tanning into a weapon of mass seduction in René Clément’s film “Plein Soleil” (Blazing Sun, 1960)

From the 70’s to the 90’s: I tan therefore I am

These two decades were also – one must admit, the era of complete ignorance regarding the sun’s true impact on our bodies. It was the era of sea, sex and sun with excessive tanning. People rushed to get tanned more and more and very quickly. Women used milking grease all over their bodies, but also all sorts of creams and self-tanning lotions. Being very tanned became chic and hype. The most fashionable models had caramel colour skin and every woman wanted to look like them. But little by little we started hearing about sun damages. Studies multiplied and the number of skin cancers linked to careless sun exposure rapidly grew.

When the sun becomes dangerous

Until then considered an ally of beauty, the sun suddenly became a threat. The sun cream market growing exponentially with laboratories and big cosmetics brands competing to offer products that were more and more efficient (using admittedly more and more chemicals). No wonder that emerging brands like Canopea and its sun protective UV swimwear have been working to develop alternative sun blocking solutions, using recycled material but most importantly efficiently protecting the skin against harmful sun rays.

Nowadays, we know that the sun has plenty of health benefits. Indeed, it helps to produce vitamin D and to prevent rickets and osteoporosis. The sun is a real mood booster; we need it to feel good about ourselves! But everyone now is aware of its harmful effects as well and it is increasingly rare to see celebrities showing excessive tanning in magazines anymore. On the contrary, people are more careful about sun’s danger. But fashion is such that one could wonder if Cindy Crawford’s 90’s tan could make a come back…

To see our full range of sun protective swimwear for children, girls, boys, babies, mums & dads, check out our new collection here