Pamela Anderson knows her way around a bathing suit. The actor, model, and newly minted memoirist says, “I’m always in a bathing suit. I’ve tried everything, so I’m a pretty good connoisseur when it comes to swimwear.” On May 4th, she’s releasing a capsule collection with Frankies Bikinis that applies all the lessons she’s learned about swimwear with the sexy ’90s aesthetic we’d expect from Anderson. And yes, there’s a red one piece with high-cut legs, straight out of Baywatch.
Understandably, Anderson has been approached many, many times to make a swimwear collection. It was always something she was interested in, and she wanted to be hands-on. Still, she had a special connection with Frankies Bikinis founder Francesca Aiello: she watched her grow up in Paradise Cove in Malibu, California. “Frankie was making little bathing suits when I was there and putting bathing suits in my mailbox,” Anderson remembers. “I am so honored to be partnering with Pamela on this collection, she is such an icon in the swimwear world, and a massive inspiration to women across the world,” Aiello says.
Aiello wrote Anderson a letter later in life about how Anderson was an inspiration to her, and, well, how could Anderson say no? In working with Aiello, the Baywatch star was able to make a collection that was less sexy and more true to her. Following the release of her memoir, Love, Pamela, and the documentary about her life, Pamela, A Love Story, audiences are primed to see Anderson as a human rather than a sex symbol—or, in this case, as someone who knows their way around functional swimwear as much as skimpy bikinis. “There’s a practicality, it’s not just about posing on the beach for pictures,” Anderson says of the collection.
Since she’s spent her career wearing custom-made styles, Anderson admits she’s been a little “spoiled” for swimwear. “They take into consideration your whole body, it was very calculated,” says Anderson. She wanted to bring the lessons she learned to the collection, and reference the milestone suits in her life. For instance, the red one-piece in the collection has thinner straps than usual, and the curve of the scoop neck. A little bit of Baywatch babe attitude for anyone with $185 to spend. (The rest of the collection is priced between $80 and $195).
While the standout of the 22-piece collection is undoubtedly the red one piece, with a scoop neck and high leg cutouts (which Anderson describes as “the most important thing for me. Not all of us are 6 feet tall and we’re not wearing high heels on the beach”). She relishes in the small ‘90s-inspired details like the baby duck yellow bikini with ruffled bottoms. “I say everyone remembers them, but maybe not because I’m old. But those underwear with the ruffles on the side? Those little details were my favorite things and I haven’t really seen them since.” Another one-piece has a small placket on the front, which Anderson says makes it more ready to be worn with a pair of jeans, like a bodysuit from the era.
One of the other must-haves is the white triangle bikini with bottoms that tie on either side. “Everyone has to have a white bikini,” Anderson says. “I was even married in a white bikini. I was married in a white bikini twice, actually. I took a poll one time when I was young and with some friends, and everyone said that you can’t get sexier than a tie-bottom bikini with a tie on each side.”
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But while the suits reference Anderson’s history, they are also built to suit her current life. “I live in Canada now; I have a ranch on the beach. I want a bathing suit that I can get into the boat with, look at crabs with my niece on the rocks and get a tan. Now I have the bathing suits that I want.”
As for the original Baywatch swimsuit? “I have one in my safe,” Anderson says. “I used to put it on, I’d jump in the shower and try to rescue my friends and run around at a party. I’ll try it on every once in a while for fun. It still fits [laughs]. But these fit better.”