[HN Gopher] The zipper is getting its first major upgrade in 100...
___________________________________________________________________
The zipper is getting its first major upgrade in 100 years
https://web.archive.org/web/20251019162445/https://www.wired...
https://archive.ph/FxsAT
Author : bookofjoe
Score : 98 points
Date : 2025-10-19 15:16 UTC (7 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.wired.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.wired.com)
| Amorymeltzer wrote:
| The excellent Avery Trufelman (formerly of 99% Invisible) has
| been running Articles of Interest
| (<https://www.articlesofinterest.co> and
| <https://articlesofinterest.substack.com>), a surprisingly
| interesting podcast about clothing and and culture and so much
| more. The Ivy League episodes are a great example of what they're
| about.
|
| Over the summer, they had an episode about the
| zipper--<https://articlesofinterest.substack.com/p/new-episode-
| zipper...> and <https://www.articlesofinterest.co/podcast/episode
| /2b1f2292/z...>--which is well worth a listen.
| amelius wrote:
| After reading the article I have no idea what is different in the
| new version.
| dewey wrote:
| > Their new AiryString zipper looks ordinary at first glance.
| Then you realize what's missing: there's no tape. That absence
| transforms everything. Without the woven fabric that normally
| flanks the teeth, the AiryString is lighter, sleeker, and far
| more flexible.
| WesolyKubeczek wrote:
| Apparently no tape, the zipper is bare, so special sewing
| machines are required and you plebs cannot just repair your
| clothes affordably (or yourself) anymore.
| gilfoy wrote:
| All the other zippers will still exist. Clothes without
| zippers will still exist. Roughly nobody does this anyway.
| Gualdrapo wrote:
| > Roughly nobody does this anyway.
|
| Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof and at
| least here in this so-called "third world" country plenty
| of people makes their clothing to be repaired in any way or
| do it themselves (even me, sometimes)
| konart wrote:
| >Roughly nobody does this anyway.
|
| I had at least z dozen zippers replaced through my life.
| Some times you a very good product with poorly chosen
| zipper, some times it is some sort of an accident.
|
| I find the idea of buying a new coat instead of fixing a
| small part of the old one weird.
| iancmceachern wrote:
| This doesn't change that, I expect you can still remove
| this a zipper and have another sewn on, just as before
| konart wrote:
| You can, but you (or rather atelier\studio) will have to
| buy a special machine to do so.
| tempestn wrote:
| If these become commonplace, so will such machines.
| tempestn wrote:
| I'm in my 40s and don't think I've ever replaced a
| zipper. I'm sure a handful have broken over my lifetime,
| but never on something nice enough to be worth repairing.
| I wouldn't buy clothing based on the possibility of this
| (to me) extreme edge case.
| stavros wrote:
| > nice enough to be worth repairing
|
| I guess it's just cost of repair vs cost of garment. I
| always opt to spend $15 replacing the zipper than to buy
| another coat or whatnot.
| oblio wrote:
| That's $15 including new zipper and cost of labor?
| stavros wrote:
| Yes, but I live in a LCoL country.
| Gualdrapo wrote:
| Funny enough they mention that this new zipper cuts emisions
| but at the same time requires another (propietary) machine to
| sew them into clothing... are net emmisions actually going to
| be diminished?
| allears wrote:
| Not only that, but DIYers and alteration/repair will be out
| of luck too.
| renewiltord wrote:
| You can. You'd just attach a fabric tape zipper and the
| clothes would stop being as flexible. So you get the best of
| both worlds: a fancy zipper to start with that delivers
| increased performance and then you remove the performance and
| have an old zipper placed in there.
|
| You just get an extra semi rigid fabric track when you
| repair. Your clothes should still work.
| oompydoompy74 wrote:
| Then you didn't read the article. It's spelled out pretty
| explicitly.
| the__alchemist wrote:
| What I can't figure out is how the new version attached to the
| fabric. That's at the core of this right? Metal-fabric
| interface.
| grapesodaaaaa wrote:
| I wonder how fabrics will handle the mechanical wear vs the
| durable tape "track" used in a traditional zipper
| OptionOfT wrote:
| They won't. They only work with garments < 1.3mm. Nothing
| here is about durability.
| iancmceachern wrote:
| "The absence of the tape posed various production
| challenges," Nishizaki says. "We had to develop new
| manufacturing equipment and a dedicated sewing machine for
| integration."
| mrits wrote:
| They found a worse way to create a worse zipper with a
| proprietary machine that no one owns . This is the future
| tempestn wrote:
| It's not worse; it's different, and better for some
| applications. Specifically when high flexibility and/or
| sleek appearance are valued above cost and durability. One
| example that immediately comes to mind is zip-up pockets in
| athletic wear.
| jjhale wrote:
| The pdf linked in other threads shows that the teeth have a
| fabric cord running through the middle of them. Then _each_
| tooth is surrounded by about 18 tiny stitches.
|
| https://imgur.com/a/o1jxAuS
| pwg wrote:
| The fourth, and last, photo of zippers in the article shows the
| old and new versions side by side, making it easy to see what
| is different.
| bookofjoe wrote:
| Here you go: https://imgur.com/a/FQGdSkg
| amelius wrote:
| Yes, so the zipper hasn't changed, just the way it is
| attached to the fabric.
| bookofjoe wrote:
| From the Wired article: "The teeth were redesigned..."
| card_zero wrote:
| Redesigned to attach to the fabric in a different way, I
| think.
|
| Usually the teeth are attached _somehow_ to the fabric
| strip. I think the strip has a ridge at the edge where
| the teeth go, and the teeth are clamped over that ridge
| to hold them in place. Then the fabric strip is easy to
| sew onto a garment. It looks like the new design has
| _only_ the ridge, hence it 's called a string, and is
| hard to sew onto a garment.
| iancmceachern wrote:
| No, from the article:
|
| "Without them, YKK had to rethink every step of production
|
| The teeth were redesigned, the manufacturing process
| rewritten, and new machinery developed to attach the
| closure to garments. "The absence of the tape posed various
| production challenges," Nishizaki says."
| Kikawala wrote:
| PDF catalog for the AiryString has a lot more details and
| technical information.
|
| https://ykkdigitalshowroom.com/assets/AiryString_202507_en.p...
|
| It looks like there is a core cord inside the zipper teeth. The
| specialized sewing machine stitches the cord to the fabric in
| between each teeth... tooth?
| Avicebron wrote:
| Link to what the upgrade looks like
| https://ykkdigitalshowroom.com/en/item/143/
| bookofjoe wrote:
| Another view: https://imgur.com/a/FQGdSkg
| blacksmith_tb wrote:
| This one[1] shows how the teeth are sewn on, which does look
| like it would be hard to do by hand (and impossible with a
| normal sewing machine).
|
| 1:
| https://ykkdigitalshowroom.com/assets/80006b690a9e47db1e62ad...
| addaon wrote:
| So, uh, how is it attached to the garment? They talk about
| specialized sewing equipment, so it's not bonded (although for
| polymer-based outerwear solvent bonding seems like the ultimate
| end-point)... but there's no thru-holes or other obvious
| attachment points. Something boring but hidden (hole from the
| side to the bottom), or something more interesting?
| epwr wrote:
| Likely they will be heat welded to a polyethylene. You can sew
| this for extra strength. Which I think means a fully recyclable
| jacket!
| germinalphrase wrote:
| There does appear to be a connecting strand between the teeth,
| and the article indicates you need a specialized sewing
| machine. They must sew it, but repairable is probably impacted.
| dnpls wrote:
| From the YKK Digital Showroom website:
|
| > The AiryString(r) tapeless zipper is designed for elements to
| be sewn directly onto fabric by a special machine.
|
| https://ykkdigitalshowroom.com/en/item/143/
| jasonthorsness wrote:
| Hm I think the tape also serves to stiffen and align the two
| sides; so it might have a downside
| konart wrote:
| How do you replace a broken zipper than?
| iancmceachern wrote:
| I expect the same way you do now
| konart wrote:
| Right now zippers have a piece of fabric. You can sew it with
| any machine or even by hand.
|
| This new one requires a special machine to sew it.
| iancmceachern wrote:
| I bet it could be done by hand by an experienced hand
| kemitchell wrote:
| Good question. They have a new Juki machine to sew these on
| directly, but I can't tell whether it will be practical to sew
| on by hand. I expect most tailor and seamstress shops won't be
| taking our loans to buy machines just to sew these new zippers
| in one size.
| Danieru wrote:
| This is a big deal for YKK.
|
| Until a few years ago they had a hold on the upper end of the
| market. The chinese competitor's quality was unreliable enough
| that clothing manufacturers were willing to pay a premium to
| ensure a failed zipper does not trash a garment. That situation
| has been changing, and chinese companies are offering zippers
| which are getting used on progressively higher end products.
|
| By releasing a new product with substantial changes and thus
| patentability they can buy a few decades at the top of the
| market. I suspect this technology has been in development for a
| long time, and held back until competitors were threatening the
| premium traditional zipper market.
| dingnuts wrote:
| why would China respect a Japanese patent?
| Marsymars wrote:
| They may not, but you can't really sell patent-violating
| products at scale in patent-respecting countries without
| opening yourself up to lawsuits.
| mmooss wrote:
| They want Japan to respect Chinese patents, and they want to
| benefit from trade with Japan.
| Our_Benefactors wrote:
| They won't, but clothing manufacturers will or they'll be
| subject to Japanese lawsuits.
| neom wrote:
| "Please be aware that when using AiryString(r) on fabrics with
| the following characteristics, there are concerns that the zipper
| may come unstitched, roll into the slider, or not be strong
| enough. * Fabrics with notably low slippage resistance ( woven
| fabrics: fabrics with low thread counts, knitted fabrics: fabrics
| with loose tension). * Fabrics with low friction resistance *
| Fabrics with large bumps * Shaggy fabrics"
|
| Seems like the target use case is Athleisure?
| jsolson wrote:
| That would make sense.
|
| My first thought was "Arc'teryx will probably adopt this
| immediately." They (and similar brands) are already pushing as
| hard as they can on seamlessness or very very tight seams.
| emptybits wrote:
| "Major Upgrade" for the fast, disposable fashion crowd.
|
| Major downgrade for maintainability and ability to repair.
|
| This "upgraded" zipper will be impossible to replace if broken at
| home, by hand or with a machine, or even at a typical
| professional repair shop. YKK documents say a "dedicated
| AiryString(r) sewing machine" is required.[1]
|
| [1]https://ykkdigitalshowroom.com/assets/AiryString_202507_en.p..
| .
| Retr0id wrote:
| It might be more challenging but I don't see why you couldn't
| also sew this by hand.
| OptionOfT wrote:
| Fabrics have gotten a lot thinner, and thus develop holes a lot
| more quickly.
|
| I have t-shirts from 2010 which are faded but have 0 holes.
| Whereas t-shirts I bought half a year ago have holes in them.
|
| Also, you mentioning the inability to repair stuff at home
| makes me sad. My mom, 72 year old, repaired my nephew's jacket
| the other day. Brand new zipper.
|
| The machine in that PDF you shared makes me feel YKK is going
| in the direction of Apple. They supply the parts and the
| manufacturing device.
|
| You do something they don't like? Sewing machine turns off.
| emptybits wrote:
| Yes. Also at the above link:
|
| "All AiryString(r) part sales and leasing of dedicated sewing
| machines are conducted between YKK and the customer. YKK will
| also coordinate the installation and startup of sewing
| machines at garment manufacturing factories. For more
| information on leasing dedicated sewing machines, please
| contact your YKK representative"
| portaouflop wrote:
| The fix is easy: Don't buy new clothes from fast fashion
| brands or stores.
|
| If you only buy quality from small stores and independent
| designers you still get the same quality you got 15 years
| ago. Sure it's 2-3 times the price but it's worth it.
| Gud wrote:
| I don't know if it's that easy.
|
| I have a few favourites t-shirts I rotate around. My H&M
| Iron Maiden t-shirt for $20 has surpassed much more
| expensive t-shirts by a long shot.
| portaouflop wrote:
| It also helps to avoid synthetic fabrics in my
| experience.
|
| But you are right it's not that easy...
| testdelacc1 wrote:
| > I have t-shirts from 2010 which are faded but have 0 holes.
| Whereas t-shirts I bought half a year ago have holes in them.
|
| https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Survivor.
| ..
| stavros wrote:
| Why the downvotes? This comment is pretty spot on.
| jusssi wrote:
| I've never had a shirt fall apart so bad it didn't make
| it back home.
|
| I know, probably the parties I go to are just that
| boring.
| stavros wrote:
| The comment means "you throw away the shirts with holes,
| so obviously any shirt you have from 2010 has no holes".
| Unless every single new shirt the GP has has holes in it
| (which they don't), we can't draw any conclusions from
| this, except "some shirts from any year last a long time
| and some don't".
| rootusrootus wrote:
| > I have t-shirts from 2010 which are faded but have 0 holes.
| Whereas t-shirts I bought half a year ago have holes in them.
|
| One of the little things I find most satisfying about getting
| old is hearing the same proclamations about quality going to
| shit today that I heard when I was much younger, only now the
| supposedly-good baseline of the comparison happened well
| after the complaints I grew up hearing. I, too, want everyone
| to get the hell off my lawn.
| constantcrying wrote:
| >Major downgrade for maintainability and ability to repair.
|
| But it seems the exact opposite is true. These zippers should
| be easily removable, leaving the fabric mostly intact. After
| that you can put in a normal zipper.
| pavon wrote:
| This looks much harder to seam-rip to me, as the stitching is
| going between the individual zipper teeth.
| constantcrying wrote:
| But you can just cut it off entirely, with minimal losses
| to the fabric, which is preferable to pulling out the
| seams, which will leave damaged fabric behind.
| tokai wrote:
| The water resistant zipper is not a 100 years old, and that was a
| huge upgrade.
| aidenn0 wrote:
| I think the same is true of the self-healing zipper, but I
| can't find a source for when it was invented.
| nmeofthestate wrote:
| Looks very cool, but absolutely laughable that they tried to sell
| an environmental angle. I don't say that because it's "actually
| the opposite" or anything like that - the impact either way will
| be fuck all.
| bobthepanda wrote:
| In the grand scheme of textiles, which actually are a major
| source of environmental harm, it's probably the choice of
| textile that would impact emissions the most. Cotton is one of
| the most water hungry crops we grow and resulted in the drying
| up of the Aral Sea; animal products have all the emissions
| associated with animal farming; and synthetics are generally
| petroleum based.
| thunderbong wrote:
| A close-up video
|
| https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tWdVvDEol5Q
| olejorgenb wrote:
| Published 4 years ago, yet it show this new product unless I'm
| mistaken.
| olejorgenb wrote:
| > Early adopters are already experimenting. Descente Japan,
| known for technical sportswear, was among the first to
| prototype AiryString in 2022
| mgnienie wrote:
| There is another one from two years ago with more details:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1JN9kR3EZw
| lvl155 wrote:
| I'd like to see a self-correcting zipper design.
| masklinn wrote:
| Do you mean self-healing zippers? They've existed for years.
| behnamoh wrote:
| > That incremental progress mirrors YKK's founding philosophy,
| the "Cycle of Goodness." The principle--that no one prospers
| without benefiting others--has supposedly guided the company for
| decades. It's visible in its other micro-improvements: corrosion-
| resistant alloys, sound-dampened sliders, recyclable polyester
| tapes. AiryString continues that tradition, shrinking the
| zipper's physical and environmental footprint at once.
|
| This is alien to SF AI startups and patent trolls.
| ardit33 wrote:
| not a productive comment. The web is made and run by myriad of
| frameworks, that were developed open source by startups, or
| folks that worked in tech that wanted to improve things bit by
| bit and wanted to share to the community.
|
| Tech in general is the much more open industry compared to any
| other (cars, biotech, etc), and it is uniquely where closed
| sourced frameworks have a har time to succeed.
| kakacik wrote:
| None of them will be around for long, and if yes only by pure
| unintended accident.
|
| But dont blame the participants, they fight for money in system
| setup for them. If people will reward clearly more moral
| businesses, over time even the most hardened sociopath will
| pick up the cues.
|
| If you want to hate something, hate how uncaring an average
| person is, driven by simple, easy to manipulate emotions, not
| fighting primal urges even if they drive them off the cliff, or
| even caring more deeply about themselves, who they are and
| where they go.
| XenophileJKO wrote:
| Isn't it kind of the opposite? Taking a ethical stance is
| often superficially suboptimal at maximizing personal value.
| Obviously moral frameworks vary by culture, but commonly
| involve setting aside some amount of self interest.
|
| The same is true of a business, primarily driven by the
| executives and carried out by rank and file.
| edelbitter wrote:
| Having your customers suddenly require proprietary machinery
| (only sold/licensed by you) to unlock the full potential of
| your upgraded product line.. does seem compatible with the SF
| startup way of thinking.
| dingnuts wrote:
| yes, and the fact that the article brushes over this and is
| so breathless -- it's an ad, right?
|
| My first question was: if they remove the tape, how do you
| affix it to the garment? and you're right, the article glides
| over the fact that this company, which is largely a monopoly,
| is creating garments that will apparently require a
| proprietary device to repair.
|
| It's like a Juicero ad, but for your fly. I'm good.
| calmworm wrote:
| But its not anything like a Juicero ad is it? They are not
| halting production on all other zippers or charging you a
| monthly zipper refill fee... but adding a new product line
| with more and different possible uses. An innovative new
| design for a product most don't think twice about. It's
| pretty cool, really.
| beloch wrote:
| It will be interesting to see what they do next.
|
| The SF approach would be to lock down every aspect of the new
| zippers with as much proprietary BS as possible for as long
| as possible, charging high fees the whole time and quite
| likely causing relatively poor market penetration. Relatively
| few people will pay $50 extra for a thinner zipper on a
| typical jacket. To combat this, one SF approach might be to
| pump out ads and branding to to make the new zipper a status
| symbol.
|
| e.g. Will we start to see fashion designers paid to highlight
| the new zippers on their products rather than hiding them
| behind flaps or in folds? Are Brando biker jackets about to
| trend again?
|
| On the other hand, YKK might simply do what they've been
| doing for the last century: Obliterate the competition by
| doing what they do better and cheaper. This is how they took
| the market from manufacturer's like Talon. They might
| maintain control of their new zipper tech with patents, etc.,
| but they might also make the tooling affordable and try to
| maximize uptake by manufacturers.
|
| I have a vintage reproduction of a 1920's cafe racer with a
| Talon zipper on it. That thing needs to be _babied_. Zip it
| up wrong and the slide will bend, teeth will stop engaging,
| etc.. If you want a jacket that you 'll think twice about
| zipping up (e.g. "Am I really so cold it's worth it?"), get
| something with a vintage Talon zipper. The first thing that
| stood out to me as a falsehood in this article was the claim
| that this is the first upgrade to the zipper in a century.
| YKK has been quietly making them better and better that whole
| time.
| hulitu wrote:
| They surely learned something from Microsoft.
| empiricus wrote:
| tangent: all my pants have zipper pockets. after almost losing my
| phone in a taxi in dubai a long time ago, I always get pants with
| zippers, even though I do not always close them...
| tempaccount420 wrote:
| Do you find it hard to buy new pants? I wish there was a search
| engine for clothes...
| opan wrote:
| I similarly had an issue with stuff falling out of my pockets
| which made me get pants with zipper pockets. In the end I was
| disappointed. I had some pants and shorts from Fjallraven and
| the zippers on the pockets all failed in under a year from what
| I recall. I ended up switching to all Duluth Trading Co.
| pants/shorts. These do NOT have zipper pockets, but they DID
| solve my problem, somehow. The pockets are deeper and perhaps a
| better shape. I've hung upside down in an inversion table,
| pockets stuffed full with what some would call an excessive
| EDC, and nothing falls out.
|
| I would say avoid excercise-y pants/shorts and pajama pants,
| they have particularly bad pockets. That alone helped me quite
| a bit. I went from more lounge-y wear to dressing like a
| tradesman on the average day. The Duluth Trading pants are a
| lot more comfortable than any blue jeans I've worn before, as
| well as more durable and with more pockets. I have seen some
| other brands with similar design but can't recall the names. I
| just know I got some pair from Menard's or Fleet Farm once as a
| gift and the pocket layout was surprisingly identical to my
| Duluth Trading pants. I didn't like them as much, but I don't
| remember any specific major flaws either. Mostly including that
| tidbit to sound less like an ad for DT.
| helterskelter wrote:
| > When asked what zippers might look like in 50 years, Nishizaki
| doesn't talk about smart fabrics or AI-assisted closures. He
| returns to YKK's mantra: "Little parts. Big difference."
|
| AI-assisted closures? I'm struggling to imagine a use case.
| Surely this is humor...
| andrewgleave wrote:
| My Lindy alarm has gone off!
| Traubenfuchs wrote:
| How I'd love to work in an environment like that.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBprQffr2g4
| aydyn wrote:
| The upgrade I want is a two way zipper that actually works well.
| Current two way zippers suck, so most jacket manufacturers have
| abandoned them completely.
|
| Honestly dont see the point of this "upgrade". Normal zippers
| work fine.
| nikanj wrote:
| Average startup team replaced all zippers and buttons with
| experimental fasteners three sprints ago, because a tech that
| doesn't get quarterly upgrades is clearly obsolete
| chrchr wrote:
| Anyone interested in zippers, or, more significantly for this
| website, how new technologies are invented, adopted, and mature,
| should read "Zipper: An Exploration in Novelty" by Robert D.
| Friedel [1]
|
| YKK is kind of one of the heroes of the story. The zipper was
| pioneered by the U.S. company Talon Fastener, which was acquired
| and parted out in the 1970s. YKK bought the legacy machining for
| manufacturing zippers and went on to dominate the global market.
|
| [1] https://www.amazon.com/Zipper-Exploration-Robert-D-
| Friedel/d...
| hn_throwaway_99 wrote:
| I don't like "submarine" PR articles like this, because I feel
| like the author didn't ask any of the obvious questions around
| this zipper:
|
| 1. No closeup pics of how the zipper is actually sewed onto
| fabrics.
|
| 2. Is this design more likely to tear fabrics than a traditional
| zipper? A video another commenter linked made it look more
| fragile to me, but I don't know.
|
| 3. The biggest issue with any zipper is snags. This design looks
| like it would be a lot more likely to snag, but maybe not.
|
| 4. As other commenters mentioned, can it be repaired without
| special equipment?
|
| I'm not saying this design is good or bad, just that this puff
| piece article didn't ask any of the immediate questions I had.
| whycome wrote:
| Agreed
|
| > Its dominance comes from an unusual level of control: YKK
| manufactures its own machines, designs its own molds, and even
| spins its own thread. That self-sufficiency lets it experiment
| in ways competitors can't, turning a mundane component into a
| field for continuous innovation.
|
| I thought the point was that there hasn't been any innovation??
| downrightmike wrote:
| I skimmed the article and have no clue what they are calling
| revolutionary. It will fail.
| dan-robertson wrote:
| This feels to me like the right place to be trying to innovate.
| Zippers tend to be pretty good for the most technical clothing
| (and some other cases that demand textiles). In ordinary
| settings, I find more and more that I prefer pullovers, buttons,
| or other traditional fastening/closure mechanisms.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2025-10-19 23:01 UTC)