Editing Spandex (section)

== History ==
The easy condensation of diols and diisocyanates was recognized in the 1930s as the result of work by [[Otto Bayer]].<ref name=UllFib/>  Fibers suitable for replacing nylon were not created from urethanes, but instead this theme led to a family of specialized elastic fabrics.

In the [[post-World War II]] era, [[DuPont Textiles and Interiors|DuPont Textiles Fibers Department]], formed in 1952, became the most profitable division of DuPont, dominating the [[synthetic fiber]] market worldwide.<ref name=":1">{{Citation |last=O'Connor |first=Kaori |title=Producing Fashion |pages=207–228 |year=2008 |chapter=CHAPTER ELEVEN. The Body and the Brand: How Lycra Shaped America |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |doi=10.9783/9780812206050.207 |isbn=9780812206050}}</ref> At this time, women began to emerge as a significant group of consumers because of their need for underwear and [[hosiery]].<ref name=":1" /> After conducting [[market research]] to find out what women wanted from textiles, DuPont began developing fibers to meet such needs—including a better fiber for women's [[Girdle (undergarment)|girdles]], which were commonly made of rubber at the time. 

In the early 1950s chemist [[Joseph Shivers|Joseph C. Shivers]] modified [[Dacron]] polyester, producing an elastic fiber that could withstand high temperatures.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |date=August 1998 |title=Joseph c. Shivers to Receive The Olney Medal |url=http://www.aatcc.org/awards/OlneyShivers.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203014041/http://www.aatcc.org/awards/OlneyShivers.pdf |archive-date=2013-12-03 |access-date=2018-11-26 |publisher=American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists}}</ref> <!--Determined to find a fiber to replace rubber in garments, after nearly a decade of research, Shivers perfected the fiber in 1958 at [[DuPont]]'s Benger Laboratory in [[Waynesboro, Virginia]].<ref name=":0">{{cite patent |country=US |number=3023192 |status=patent |title=Segmented copolyetherester elastomers |gdate=1962-02-27 |fdate=1958-05-29 |inventor=Jr Joseph Clois Shivers |assign1=EI Du Pont de Nemours and Co.}}</ref>--><ref name=":4">{{cite book |last1=Flynn |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Patel |first2=Sarah |year=2016 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U3L7CwAAQBAJ&dq=spandex+inventor&pg=PA86 |title=The Really Useful Primary Design and Technology Book: Subject Knowledge and Lesson Ideas |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |page=86 |isbn=9781317402565}}</ref><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> 

=== Lycra brand ===
To distinguish its brand of spandex fiber, DuPont chose the [[trade name]] ''Lycra'' (originally called ''Fiber K'').<ref>{{Cite journal |date=February 15, 1999 |title=What's That Stuff? – Spandex |first=Marc |last=Reisch |url=https://pubs.acs.org/cen/whatstuff/stuff/7707scitek4.html |journal=Chemical & Engineering News |volume=77 |issue=7 |doi=10.1021/cen-v077n007.p070 |access-date=2018-12-06}}</ref> DuPont launched an extensive publicity campaign for its Lycra brand, taking advertisements and full-page ads in top women's magazines<!-- such as ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'', ''[[Glamour (magazine)|Glamour]]'', ''[[Harper's Bazaar]]'', ''[[Mademoiselle (magazine)|Mademoiselle]]'', ''[[McCall's]]'', ''[[Ladies' Home Journal]]'', and ''[[Good Housekeeping]]''-->.<ref name=":1" /> [[Audrey Hepburn]] helped catapult the brand on and off-screen during this time; models and actresses like [[Joan Collins]] and [[Ann-Margret]] followed Hepburn's aesthetic by posing in Lycra clothing for photo shoots and magazine covers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Meaghan |title=What Came First: The Yoga Pant Or The Skinny Jean? |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/yoga-pants-skinny-jeans-trend-history |access-date=2018-12-11 |website=Refinery29 |publisher=Vice Media |language=en}}</ref>

By the mid-1970s, with the emergence of the [[women's liberation movement]], girdle sales began to drop as they came to be associated with anti-independence and emblematic of an era that was quickly passing away.<ref name=":1" /> In response, DuPont marketed Lycra as the [[Aerobic exercise|aerobic]] [[Physical fitness|fitness]] movement emerged in the 1970s.<ref name=":1" /> The association of Lycra with fitness had been established at the [[1968 Winter Olympics|1968 Winter Olympic Games]], when the French ski team wore Lycra garments.<ref name=":2">{{cite news |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |title=Lycra: a brief history |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvwIlHUIqAU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/vvwIlHUIqAU |archive-date=2021-11-17 |url-status=live |access-date=2018-12-11}}{{cbignore}}</ref>  The fiber came to be especially popular in [[Cycling shorts|mid-thigh-length shorts]] worn by cyclists.<ref name=":2" />

By the 1980s, the fitness trend had reached its height in popularity and fashionistas began wearing shorts on the street.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Spandex – Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages |url=http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/fashion_costume_culture/Modern-World-1980-2003/Spandex.html |access-date=2018-12-11 |website=Encyclopedia of Fashion}}</ref> Spandex proved such a popular fiber in the garment industry that, by 1987, DuPont had trouble meeting worldwide demand. In the 1990s a variety of other items made with spandex proved popular, including a successful line of [[Body shaping underwear|body-shaping foundation garments]] sold under the trade name ''Bodyslimmers''. As the decade progressed, shirts, pants, dresses, and even shoes were being made with spandex blends, and mass-market retailers like [[Banana Republic]] were even using it for menswear.<ref name=":3" />

In 2019, control of the Lycra Company was sold by [[Koch Industries]] to [[Shandong Ruyi]].<ref name="Kane Wu 2020 v287">{{cite web | last=Kane Wu | first=Scott Murdoch | title='China's LVMH' Shandong Ruyi resists Lycra sale in favour of IPO amid debt crisis: sources | website=Reuters | date=2020-08-06 | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-shandong-ruyi-lycra-idUSKCN2521CY/ | access-date=2024-04-10}}</ref>