Are you looking for a material that is used in so many industries that its deficit would lead to the collapse of entire communities? Polyvinyl chloride plastics are everywhere, in everyone’s lives, on every level of the building industry, engineering industry, beauty industry, human health industry, and fashion industry. The world cannot afford to give up on vinyl products due to their global demand and application. The fashion industry fell in love with PVC plastic over 60 years ago, and this fascination is not fading.
What is PVC material?
PVC is polyvinyl chloride, also known as polyvinyl, or simply vinyl. PVC is the third most common synthetic type of plastic. PVC is a plastic that comes in two forms:
- rigid PVC
- used in building materials such as building blocks, tarp materials, PVC compounds, skitting PVC, etc.
- as a
- flexible vinyl fabric
- used in fashion, e.g., vinyl gloves, vinyl bags, PVC pants, PVC dresses, vinyl lingerie, plus size PVC clothing, vinyl hats, and in PVC healthcare applications, etc.
Nowadays, vinyl chloride is the third most widely produced synthentic polymer of plastic in the world, and its largest single producer since 2018 is Japan, but half of the world’s PVC production capacity is in China.
When was PVC discovered?
PVC was discovered by a German scientist, Eugen Bauman, in 1872.
When was PVC fabric used for the first time in the fashion industry?
For the first time, PVC vinyl material was used in clothing factories in the 1920s in the United States. Because of the Great Depression, clothing companies could not afford natural rubber for covering textiles anymore. The global economic situation forced them to search for cheaper substitutes for waterproofing. PVC clothes were introduced.
Who created the coated PVC fabric we know today?
Waldo Semon was hired by an American company to come up with a new idea for making cheaper and more affordable rubber clothing. Plasticized PVC was his invention, which took off in the whole fashion industry almost immediately and became a must-have for every fashion-forward individual.
The peak of the international hype – PVC raincoats, PVC dresses, men’s PVC pants, PVC lingerie
It took a young Paco Rabanne to take PVC clothing to the level of high fashion in the 1960s. At once, the biggest international actresses started appearing on the screen or in front of the cameras in outfits including PVC. PVC items drew the attention of André Courrèges himself. The French designer built his worldwide fame on futuristic and modernist plasticized PVC. Even now, his vinyl clothing line is considered the canon among other fashion vinyl products manufacturers.
Fashion clothing PVC industry in a mainstream
PVC has always been considered a futuristic material that belongs on the big screen and at photoshoot sessions. Without Paco Rabanne, followed by Eugen Bauman and Waldo Semon, there would be no beautiful, sleek, and shiny vinyl catsuits worn by Kim Beckinsale in Underworld, masterpiece vinyl coats in Matrix, and many more. Often considered distasteful and vulgar, PVC lifecycle starts and ends in fashion industry, no matter what the fashion critics claim.
