In 1951, 26 women dressed themselves in bikinis and floated down the River Thames on a bargeat least one was wearing a suit made entirely of spotted mink. It was a publicity stunt fabricated by an enterprising man named Eric Morley, as an attempt to raise both money and morale following the devastation of World War II. When the press heard that the most beautiful women in the world had gathered in their swimwearsomething completely unheard of at that time in Englandthey flocked to witness such an extravaganza and the Miss World competition was born. 
 
 Last night, the 64th Miss World, Rolene Strauss of South Africa, was crowned winner. While she is undoubtedly beautiful, as are each of the 121 international representatives she competed against, the pageants purpose is vastly different than it was during its inception 63 years ago. In addition to four optional competitions in talent, fashion runway, swimwear, and athletics, Strauss was judged on an in-depth interview, a service project dedicated to keeping girls in school, and her academic record. (To wit: the 22-year-old is a fourth-year medical student.) Miss Strauss will also hold a unique place in the history of the pageant: She will be the last winner to participate in a Miss World competition that includes a swimsuit competition. In a private meeting on Friday, Julia Morley, the chairwoman of Miss World (she assumed the role following the death of her husband in 2000), announced to the international directors that the bikini portion will be eliminated entirely beginning in 2015. 
 
 "I really dont wantI dont need to see women just walking up and down in bikinis. It doesn't do anything for the woman. And it doesnt do anything for any of us," Mrs. Morley, 74, tells me as we watch a sing-off between Miss Malaysia and Miss Scotland during a dress rehearsal at the ICC Auditorium in the heart of London's Royal Docks. "I dont care if someone has a bottom two inches bigger than someone else's. We are really not looking at her bottom. We are really listening to her speak." 
 
 For contrast, The Miss Universe pageant, which is owned by Donald Trump and was founded the year after Miss World, places a strong emphasis on the swimsuit element of the pageant. And, unlike Miss World, it does not include an interview or a service element. According to Mrs. Morley, following the death of her husband, Mr. Trump phoned: "So little lady," he asked. "Are you ready to throw in the towel?" It was then that she decided to take out a $5 million loan to keep the company afloat. "They are not little girls," she says. "This is what I want to get away from. This sort of 'cute' image. No offense to Mr. Trump." 
 
 There is an established belief, especially from the feminist left, that beauty pageants are a superficial and patriarchal forum. Following the first wave of the feminist revolution in 1968when Bob Hope asked a swimsuit-clad pageant contestant to turn around so he could observe her from behind400 women protested outside the Miss America pageant holding signs with messages that read, 'Cattle parades are degrading to human beings,' and 'We are not beautiful, we are not ugly, we are angry.' The sentiment existed in Britain too, and from 1988 until 2011 (23 years), pageants were not broadcast on primetime television in the UK. For the last three years, however, the spectacles have resurfaced as a cultural juggernaut: Yesterday's Miss World competition was hosted by E! and was reportedly watched by over one billion viewers worldwide. Instead of throngs of protestors, the event was attended by a well-dressed and worldly crowd proudly waving their national flags. 
 
 "Weve evolved so much. The real problem is trying to get Britain to understand they are 20 years behind when they think, 'Oh, bikinis. Oh, Miss World.' They never want to understand us because we are a good [agenda] item for their promotion,' Mrs. Morley says of a group she calls "women's libbers." 
 
 In 1951, the simple idea of putting a woman in a bikini on-stage shocked the world. And by the following year, two countries threatened to pull out of the pageant, citing immodesty. So the format changed: The swimsuit became a single segment of the competition, winners were crowned wearing a gown, and the interview portion of the event was introduced. In 1974, Mrs. Morley began Beauty with a Purpose, the service element of Miss World, which has helped to divert attention away from the external, physical side of the competition and raised over $1 billion for charity. In recent years, the bathing suit competition has been held prior to the finale, and judged privately by a modesty panel rather than during the live broadcast. Most women opt to wear one-piece suits or to wrap scarf around their waist. "We don't want to just make them feel like they are walking bodies, you know?" Mrs. Morley says. 
 
 In an age where seeing women's bodies in states of undresson billboards, in commercials, in magazine adshas become common place, it's nearly more shocking not to display womens bodies on television than to reveal them. Mrs. Morley is making a pioneering move for the industry and one that may encourage others in the industryand the public at largeto consider what modern pageantry could mean when the bikini, and the body, are removed from the equation of how women are judged. 
 
 Related: Miss USA Contestant Mekayla Diehl Likes Being Called "Average" ||||| Since 1951, the Miss World pageant has been featuring over 120 contestants competing for one title and a crown. 
 
 Now, for the first time in 63 years, the organization's chairwoman Julia Morley has announced that Miss World will no longer feature a swimsuit round in their competition. 
 
 "The organization has decided to take itself out of the swimsuit world because it isn't the path they're trying to take," said Chris Wilmer, the national director of Miss World America/Miss United States organization. "It's not just a beauty contest, it's 'beauty with a purpose'. There didn't seem to be a purpose to have the swimsuit." 
 
 In recent years, Miss World has emphasized their "beauty with a purpose" round, where contestants carry out charity work and raise awareness to worthy causes. 
 
 "Miss World should be a spokesperson who can help a community," Wilmer told ABC News. "She's more of an ambassador, not a beauty queen. It's more about the outreach and what a woman could do with a title like Miss World." 
 
 As they try to steer clear of focusing on the physical appeal of their contestants, Miss World plans to feature a beachwear round in competitions, as opposed to bikinis. "It'll be more of a fashion competition than a bikini show," Wilmer said. 
 
 In addition to the swimsuit round, Miss World contestants have competed in challenge events like sports, dance, talent, top model gown, Beauty with a Purpose video, and several interviews. 
 
 "I salute the miss world organization for their efforts to try and modernize," Wilmer said. "Pageantry is an age old industry and I think with Julia getting rid of swimsuit and making it more of a lifestyle competition sends a strong message and I applaud her for it." 
 
 On Dec. 14, Rolene Strauss of South Africa was crowned the 64th Miss World winner in London. It marked the final event featuring contestants wearing bikinis. ||||| Edward Miller/Getty Images Competitors in the first Miss World contest in 1951 floated on a barge in their bikinis on the River Thames. China Photos/Getty Images Contestants of the 55th Miss World 2005 compete for the crown during the finals at the Beauty Crown Theatre in China. Previous Next 
 
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 It's the end of the Miss World as we know it. 
 
 The international pageant has decided to cut the swimwear round and focus on contestants' other assets, executives announced last week. 
 
 "I don't care if someone has a bottom two inches bigger than someone else's," Chairwoman Julia Morley told ElleDec. 12. "We are really not looking at her bottom. We are really listening to her speak." 
 
 The organization decided to ditch the event critics called degrading to judge contestants' more on attributes such as their intellect and charity work. 
 
 Contestants will be judged in other rounds that are already mainstays of the competition, including talent, fashion sense, sport, service work, social media and an in-depth interview. 
 
 LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images Contestants parade during the grand final of the Miss World 2014 pageant at the Excel London ICC Auditorium in London Sunday. Getty Images/Getty Images Miss World chairwoman Julia Morley announced the competition will stop showing women in their bathing suits and will focus more on contestants’ other assets. Alastair Grant/AP Miss South Africa Rolene Strauss (C) celebrates after being crowned Miss World 2014 on Sunday. Miss Hungary Edina Kulcsar (L) came second with Miss United States, Elizabeth Safrit (R) finishing third. Leonard Burt/Getty Images The contestants in the 1967 Miss World contest wore one-pieces. Previous Next 
 
 
 
 
 
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 In recent years, Miss World stopped televising the bathing suit competition, which was made optional. Judges focused on the women's swimwear fashion in private panel. 
 
 "Miss World should be a spokesperson who can help a community," U.S. director Chris Wilmer told ABC News. "She's more of an ambassador, not a beauty queen. It's more about the outreach and what a woman could do with a title like Miss World." 
 
 Miss World's competitor, Miss Universe, owned by Donald Trump, will continue to feature the swimwear competition. 
 
 Miss World began as a publicity stunt featuring 26 women in their swimwear on the River Thames in 1951, Elle reported. 
 
 More than 1 billion people tuned into the competition Sunday when Miss South Africa Rolene Strauss was crowned. She and the other 120 contestants are the last to compete in their bathing suit. 
 
 rblidner@nydailynews.com
– Just days after South Africa's Rolene Strauss won this year's crown, Miss World organizers have announced it will no longer feature the swimsuit portion of the contest, reports the New York Daily News. Next year's competition will be the first year in the event's 63-year history in which the contestants put on a "beachwear" fashion show instead of parading down the catwalk in bikinis, ABC News reports. It's not exactly clear what "beachwear" means, though a rep for the event frames it as "more of a fashion competition than a bikini show." The Daily News notes that Miss World had already stopped airing the bathing suit portion of the competition, and had made it optional. Donald Trump, who owns the Miss Universe pageant, puts what Elle calls a "strong emphasis" on swimsuits and doesn't include interviews or service elements during his contest, as Miss World does. After Miss World Chairwoman Julia Morley's husband (the founder of Miss World) died in 2000, Trump called Morley and reportedly asked, "So little lady, are you ready to throw in the towel?" His remarks spurred Morley to get a $5 million loan and keep her contest going. As for the latest change, "I don't need to see women just walking up and down in bikinis," Morley tells Elle. "It doesn't do anything for the woman. And it doesn't do anything for any of us." (Miss World got rid of bikinis in 2013 out of respect to host country Indonesia.)