Developer of Bikini Goes Bust

The firm that sprang the bikini swimsuit on an unsuspecting world 42 years ago said today it is closing down--a victim of changing fashions and cold economic reality.

The Reard Co., whose founder, Louis Reard, invented the daring two-piece suit and spent a fortune defending its trademark, said it was filing for protection under bankruptcy laws. First unveiled on June 3, 1946, the costume was named after the Pacific atoll of Bikini where the world’s first peacetime nuclear test had just taken place. It had a similarly explosive effect.