At the height of its popularity, the 1990s TV show “Baywatch” was bringing in 1.1 billion worldwide weekly viewers. It made Pamela Anderson and Carmen Electra famous, revived (again) the career of David Hasselhoff and inspired a 2017 movie. Now the series can be handily retrieved on Amazon Prime and Hulu — in high definition and with 350 new original songs added to the score to help draw in millennial viewers. But what about “Baywatch” is most memorable, lasting and important?

Its red one-piece swimsuit.

Of late Kylie Jenner, Selena Gomez, Hailey Bieber and Jennifer Lopez have all posted snapshots wearing “Baywatch”-esque suits on social-media feeds, inspiring fans to swap their bikinis for maillots.

“It’s awesome to see people now embracing that fashion, oftentimes tagging it as ‘Baywatch,’” said actress Kelly Packard, who made several appearances in the series before landing the reoccurring role of April Giminski in seasons 8 and 9. She follows #baywatch on Instagram and said she sees “thousands” of posts on the subject a day.

Brian Davis, designer of Magicsuit swimwear, created the Scuba Blake one-piece, a modern twist on the Baywatch suit for the 2019 swimwear season. He said it has sold briskly, priced at $168. “As a swimwear designer it is impossible not be inspired and influenced by the iconic ‘Baywatch’ swimsuit,” Davis said.

The suit has been trending for at least two years. Ashley Graham’s Swimsuits for All released an ad to promote its 2017 summer line, which featured Graham and models Niki Taylor and Teyana Taylor as lifeguards. The company offers its customers myriad variations of one-pieces, many of which encompass the high leg opening and scoop neck that defined the “Baywatch” look.

In the beginning

The official “Baywatch” swimsuits were inspired by those worn by real lifeguards on beaches in Southern California. Greg Bonann, a creator of the series and lifeguard himself, enlisted TYR, a competitive swimwear company, for help with the design. “I wanted them to be real and practical and actually work in the surf,” Bonann said.

The company created a red one-piece bathing suit as the wardrobe’s template, then took measurements of each actress playing a lifeguard. The goal, Bonann said, was to flatter each star’s body.

Throughout the years, the “Baywatch” suits took on many different iterations; Speedo, JAG and Kiwi Swim all contributed designs.

When the show went to Hawaii, Bonann had yellow suits commissioned. In addition, there were sometimes separate suits for water stunts and land.

© 2019 The New York Times Company