There was a time in the former nineties when fleece abruptly became omnipresent in my life sentence . I blame Old Navy . Their boldly - imbue , fuzzy pullovers dominated every commercial break during the holidays and garment everyone in my gamey school .
Before then , the Mark Zuckerberg darling was a fabric for people who did things out of doors . But once wear retailers realized fleece had appeal beyond the REI crowd , they produce their own versions and blanketed the market with it . And from that point , there was no turning back .
Fleece had n’t been around all that foresighted when it exploded onto the back of every frat - boy in the rural area . It was n’t sold to the public until 1981 . Before fleece , there was wool . There ’s evidence that Swiss lake dwellers used the stuff and nonsense as far back as the seventh century B.C. In fact , historians consider it ’s kept our bodies ardent far back than we have a recorded history .
But wool ’s got some quality flaws that innovative science sought to amend . First , it sucks up piddle . And when it does , it smells . Like slopped animal . It ’s also a pretty punishing material to begin with , so cause water logged turns an already sizable jumper into something that feels like that ness you assume while get an x - re . Do n’t even get me started on the itch factor .
plastic solved many job in the twentieth 100 . Why not the wool dilemma ?
Enter Malden Mills Industries , which stimulate its offset in 1906 with wool bathing courtship ( yep ) and sweaters . During World War II , they won military contracts to grow uniforms . But after the state of war was over , they saw a displacement in the textile landscape painting . Polyesters were incorporated into everything from tyre to carpet to clothing . Nylon , which was make up in the ‘ XXX by DuPont , became an instant smash . Spandex , which we may or may not be grateful for , was invented in the ’ 50s . New high-pitched - technical school textile were popping up all over the station , and Malden Mills wanted in on the action . They place out to make a plastic sheep - replacer to help them climb to the top of their diligence .
They started by whirl plastics into yarn . weave the yarn into material with bantam loops on one side created a thin fabric — but when brushed , the yarn broke down into individual fibers and the loops chuff up , improving the textile ’s texture , heaviness and insulation without increasing the exercising weight . The design happened in the manufacturing plant , not the lab , partly because Patagonia was pushing for new fabrics . Doug Hoschek , who marketed the newfangled fabric , bonk it would have an Brobdingnagian impact in the outside community , so Malden Mills worked sharply to get that crew on board .
The invention pulled the caller out of near bankruptcy . By the early 90 , Malden was using recycle shaping bottles for their fleece material , adding “ sustainable ” to their already attractive talk points .
Then in 1995 the Malden Mills factory burned to the ground . The possessor , Aaron M. Feuerstein , generously continue to compensate employees even when they did n’t have a piece of work to come to , which after sent the company under water again .
Around this time , fleece ’s cozy qualities became apparent to companies like Old Navy and Gap , which hawked the by - the - fireplace rendering of the garment . punk imitations glut the mart , which made it even hard for struggling Malden Mills . Feuerstein was booted as CEO , and the company survived despite intense contender by nab government contracts . Malden Mills re - branded itselfPolartec .
The storey has a felicitous ending : the caller and the fabric survived and thrived . Thanks to young fabric applied science from Polartec née Malden Mills plus a catchy ( and probably irritating , I ’m go for to never think the melody ) Old Navy jingle , a fleecegarment , baby blanket , plaything , Snuggie , ordog jogging suitwill detect its way under pretty much every Christmas Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in the whole spacious world this weekend .
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