The zipper story begins in 1851, when Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine, patented an “Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure”. However, he never pursued it commercially, so it didn’t catch on.
The real groundwork came from Whitcomb Judson, an American inventor who, in 1893, introduced a device called the “Clasp Locker” – essentially a hook-and-eye fastener designed for shoes. Judson exhibited it at the Chicago World’s Fair and even founded a company, which would later become Talon, Inc., a major player in the zipper industry. But his design was clunky and unreliable, earning little success.
The zipper’s breakthrough came thanks to Gideon Sundbäck, a Swedish-American electrical engineer working for Judson’s company. In 1913, Sundbäck improved the design, increasing the number of fastening elements – developing a more reliable, interlocking system. He patented the “Separable Fastener” in 1917 – considered the true birth of the modern zipper.
At first, zippers were used mainly for boots and tobacco pouches. It wasn’t until the 1930s that fashion designers and manufacturers embraced the zipper for clothing. The B. F. Goodrich Company played a major role in popularising the term “zipper”, a word that they used to market a new line of rubber boots. They liked the “zip” sound it made. The name stuck. By the mid-20th century, zippers were everywhere: pants, skirts, jackets, luggage, military uniforms, and even astronaut suits. They offered a faster, cleaner and more secure alternative to buttons and hooks, helping to modernise fashion and functionality.
Today’s zippers are made by a variety of companies from metal, nylon or molded plastic, and they come in an astonishing variety of shapes and purposes – from heavy-duty waterproof zippers used in diving gear to tiny concealed ones in formalwear. Despite being such a simple mechanism, the zipper remains a marvel of everyday engineering.
Finally, an organisational case study: Consistent quality is a must for reputable fashion brands. For decades now, apparel makers who can’t afford to gamble on cut-rate fasteners have overwhelmingly turned to a single manufacturer. YKK, the Japanese zipper behemoth, founded by Tadao Yoshida in Tokyo in 1934 makes roughly half of all the zippers on earth – more than 7 billion zippers each year. Those three capital letters, standing for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha, are ubiquitous. YKK has uniquely brought every stage of the zipper making process in house. It smelts its own brass, concocts its own polyester, spins and twists its own thread, weaves and colour-dyes cloth for its zipper tapes, forges and moulds its scooped zipper teeth. YKK even makes the boxes it ships its zippers in. And of course it still manufactures its own zipper-making machines – which it carefully hides from the eyes of competitors. With every tiny detail handled under YKK’s roof, outside variables get eliminated and the company can assure consistent quality and speed of production.
Postscript
Zipper mishaps are a comedy staple – perhaps most memorably in the film There’s Something About Mary (1998), where Ben Stiller’s character has a painful encounter with his fly while dressing for his prom. The scene is infamous and still makes people wince. Watch it if you’re game.
Story Idea: Andrea Jansz
References
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