Clothing has become a concept since the early days of humanity – right along with tools and cooking. Despite the millennia which separate the first discovered items of clothing and the latest fashions, there have only been a few milestones in the evolution of the core principle. First we tied clothes, buttoned them, and then laced them together. Then came the zipper. And then there was Velcro.
Everyone’s first introduction to Velcro was probably thanks to athletic shoes – those who were kids in the 80s know exactly what I’m talking about. Of course, using Velcro straps instead of shoelaces is not the only application. The wondrous material – actually a pair of materials, looking like either a strap of hooks or loops — first became popular thanks to the NASA Apollo Program.
In the 1960s astronauts used Velcro to secure pens, gear, tools and food packets safely and easily on board the spacecraft. Following the image boost, the material was quickly adapted for terrestrial applications such as hospitals, car manufacturing, home décor and fashion. The latter was and still is somewhat of a problem, though.
In 1959 New York City’s prestigious Waldorf-Astoria Hotel hosted a fashion show dedicated to Velcro, where designers showcased the new accessory, presenting a wide variety of apparel, all using Velcro straps. While an article in the New York Times reported it "the end of buttons, toggles, hooks, zippers, snaps and even safety pins," Velcro failed to secure its position in the world of fashion, although it has secured its foothold in athletics, toys and, yes, space exploration.
So, what is Velcro and where did it come from? Contrary to popular belief, it was not developed by NASA. TIME magazine briefly mentioned Velcro in 1958 in the New Ideas section pertaining to innovative goods and services:
“Walking through a patch of woods one day in 1948, a Swiss man named Georges de Mestral wondered what made burrs stick to his clothes, then took some home to find out why. De Mestral not only found out the burrs' secret; he duplicated it with a nylon fastener that seems fair to make major changes in the U.S. garment industry.”
As you can see, they weren’t quite right on the forecast. However, they did acknowledge the inventor and his inspiration. As the story goes, one day in 1948 Mestral was hunting with his trusty Irish pointer in the Jura Mountains. To his annoyance, both his pants and his dog’s fur seemed to be a magnet for cockleburs – you know, those prickly seed pods – which seemed to be impossible to remove once they attached to the carrier with their tiny hooks.
Annoyance transformed into intrigue. Mestral examined the seed pods under a microscope and discovered the magic behind their ‘stickiness’, then started his quest to recreate and commercialize it. American Physics Society News magazine sheds light on the trademark name:
De Mestral called his invention Velcro, from the French words VELours (meaning "velvet") and CROchet (meaning "hook") and applied for a patent with the Swiss government, which was granted in 1955…
The trademark name Velcro was officially registered on May 13, 1958. By then, de Mestral had quit his job with the engineering firm and obtained a $150,000 loan to perfect the concept…
The rest, as they say, is history. Apart from commercial success, Velcro is also recognized as a perfect example of biomimicry – the study of models and concepts found in nature and their further adaptation to serve human needs – such as the sonar, which was inspired by the way whales and dolphins communicate and navigate.
