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Nylon is a synthetic polymer derived from oil which has been essential in our lives since it was invented more than sixty years ago. Stockings, sports clothing, umbrellas and swimming costumes amongst other clothes and objects, are often made from this material due to the fact that its physical properties make it ideal for this purpose. Let’s look at what it is and where it came from.  

In 1930, the chemist Wallace Hume Carothers started working on a research programme into new materials at the laboratories of the company DuPont. His objective was to obtain synthetic materials with similar qualities to natural products such as cellulose, silk and rubber. Although nylon had already been discovered, it did not appear to have any use until it was noticed by chance that a ball of this material could be stretched into a thread without having to heat it first, a state in which it not only did not break but acquired greater resistance. The company Du Pont never had a patent for the composition of nylon, but only patented the cold stretching process. This made it possible for it to be produced on a large scale all over the world. 

Following this discovery, production started in 1939, at the beginning of the Second World War, which is why nylon was initially used for military purposes, such as manufacturing parachutes. However, a few years later, its commercial success in the form of women’s stockings was overwhelming. Its capacity to adapt perfectly to the leg, shaping it without wrinkling or tearing, made it the fashion item which –initially in the United States and a few years later in Europe- many women wanted to have. To the point where due to the difficulty in getting hold of them some women painted a line down their legs in order to give the impression that they were wearing stockings. 

A few decades later –especially at the end of the 1970s and the start of the 1980s- it was the turn of sports clothing. Social changes and a different lifestyle, along with increasing concern about health and wanting a better physical appearance, encouraged people to play sports that only a few decades before had been considered to be restricted to the elite, and to buy specific sports clothing. The resistance, flexibility and quick drying properties of nylon, along with the advantage that it does not need ironing, turned it into the preferred material for making sports clothing. Garments which have become increasingly popular in recent years and have become part of most people’s wardrobes, including those who rarely or never do sport. 

Other materials

Although nylon is important in the field of sports clothing, it is not the only material worth mentioning. Velcro was invented in 1941 by the Swiss engineer George de Mestral when, as the story goes, he was returning from a walk in the countryside and noticed how the Alpine thistle stuck to clothes and hair, which led him to research the cause of this. Since then Velcro has become an increasingly common system, replacing laces, buttons and zips. 

GORE-TEX is a kind of fabric which is composed of several layers, one of them being nylon, which was patented in 1980 by Wilbert L- Gore and son (hence the name) and which facilitates perspiration whilst protecting people from water and the cold. This characteristic is ideal for sports clothing, especially clothing and footwear for walking. 

Neoprene is a synthetic rubber also invented by DuPont which has been particularly used for scuba diving suits and fishing boots, not just due to its high level of impermeability but also for its ability to retain the heat, which is very important when you remain in contact with the water for a long time. 

However, if there is something new in sports clothing which was the talk of the recent Olympic Games this was the suits used by many swimmers, swimming trunks which undoubtedly made a small contribution to Michael Phelps’achievement. They are the LZR Racer by Speedo, which in addition to having seams sewn by ultrasound in order to adapt better to the body, are made from a kind of water-resistant polyurethane which boosts floatability. 

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