On a beautiful summer’s day in the 1940s, George de Mestral, a scientist and engineer, took his dog for a walk in the Swiss Alps. When they returned he noticed many small plant burrs clinging to his trousers and his dog’s fur. He inspected one in detail under his microscope and saw that the seed-bearing burr had many small hooks, which enabled it to attach to clothes or to the fur of animals. From this insight, he conceived a new way to fasten materials together.
He developed a synthetic fastening system that mimicked the tiny hooks and loops of the burrs. He called it Velcro from the French words velours and crochet (velvet and hooks). He worked in engineering, not textiles, but he could see great potential for his new idea there. He showed his invention to various people, but was met with ridicule and rejection. Initially, he made it from cotton but, after many trials, he found that nylon was a superior material. He patented his invention in 1955 and then tried to sell the concept of what he called a ‘zipperless zipper’. There were no takers. But, eventually, in the 1960s, NASA adopted the fastening for use on space suits. Skiers and scuba divers started to use Velcro in their suits and, eventually, it became widely accepted by the fashion industry.
George de Mestral was born and raised near Lake Geneva in Switzerland. As a child, he displayed a talent for technical creativity. At the age of 12, he gained a patent for a type of model plane. He graduated as an electrical engineer. He sold the Velcro patent to the Velcro Company, which went on to make millions of the fastenings. Afterwards, de Mestral continued to be innovative and was granted patents for other inventions, including a hygrometer for measuring humidity and an asparagus peeler. He died in 1990.
Be curious about unusual things. Most people would simply be annoyed that their clothing had many burrs that were difficult to remove. However, these irritating attachments spurred de Mestral’s curiosity. He saw that nature had perfected a powerful way of affixing things and he copied it.
Be persistent. De Mestral had his eureka moment in the 1940s, but it was 20 years later that his innovation finally took hold. He had to ignore the people who scoffed at him. He had to continue to develop and refine the idea until it worked really well. Finally, he gave us something that is now in everyday use all over the world.
Mimic nature. Many great inventions are based on ideas from the natural world adapted for the man-made world. See Alexander Graham Bell for another example.