{{Short description|Swiss corporation behind popular hook-and-loop fastener}} {{About|the company|the type of fastener originally patented by Velcro |Hook-and-loop fastener|for other uses|Velcro (disambiguation)}} {{Use British English|date=April 2021}}{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox company | name = Velcro IP Holdings LLC<ref name=CompanyInfo>{{Cite web|title=Company Information|url=https://www.velcro.co.uk/press-and-news/company-information/|website=www.Velcro.co.uk|publisher=Velcro IP Holdings LLC|access-date=29 April 2021|archive-date=25 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125011615/https://www.velcro.co.uk/press-and-news/company-information/|url-status=dead}}</ref> | logo = File:Velcro Brand.svg | logo_size = 260 | logo_caption = Velcro official logo and wordmark | logo_alt = | trade_name = Velcro Companies<ref name=CompanyInfo/> | former_name = Velcro SA.<ref name=SwissInfo/> | type = Private | industry = Manufacturing: fastening systems | founded = <!-- if known: {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} in city, country --> | founder = George de Mestral | hq_location = United Kingdom | num_locations = Manufacturing: 7 countries<ref name=CompanyInfo/> | area_served = Worldwide<ref name=CompanyInfo/> | key_people = {{Unbulleted list|Gabriella Parisse (CEO)|William Hamilton (CFO)}}<ref name=CompanyInfo/> | products = Hook-and-loop fasteners, and other products<ref name=CompanyInfo/> | production = | production_year = <!-- Year of production data (if known) --> | brands = VELCRO<ref name=CompanyInfo/> | services = | revenue = | revenue_year = <!-- Year of revenue data (if known) --> | operating_income = | income_year = <!-- Year of operating_income data (if known) --> | net_income = <!-- or: |profit = --> | net_income_year = <!-- or: |profit_year = --><!-- Year of net_income/profit data (if known) --> | assets = | assets_year = <!-- Year of assets data (if known) --> | equity = | equity_year = <!-- Year of equity data (if known) --> | owner = <!-- or: |owners = --> | num_employees = 2,500<ref name=CompanyInfo/> | divisions = | subsid = Alfatex Group<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.Velcro.co.uk/about-us/alfatex-group-history/|title=Alfatex Group history|website=www.Velcro.co.uk|publisher=Velcro IP Holdings LLC|access-date=29 April 2021}}</ref> | website = {{URL|https://www.velcro.co.uk}} }} '''Velcro IP Holdings LLC''',<ref name=SwissInfo>{{Cite web|last=Stephens|first=Thomas|date=4 January 2007|url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/Home/Archive/How_a_Swiss_invention_hooked_the_world.html?cid=5653568|title=How a Swiss invention hooked the world|website=www.SwissInfo.ch|publisher=Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR|access-date=9 May 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208093857/http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/Home/Archive/How_a_Swiss_invention_hooked_the_world.html?cid=5653568|archive-date=8 February 2012}}</ref><ref name=OED>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/velcro|title=Velcro - Meaning of Velcro in English|website=www.Lexico.com|publisher=Oxford English Dictionary online|access-date=29 April 2021|archive-date=13 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113104107/https://www.lexico.com/definition/velcro|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Time>{{Cite magazine|last=Suddath|first=Claire|date=15 June 2010|url=http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1996883,00.html|title=A brief history of: Velcro|magazine=Time|publisher=TIME USA, LLC.|access-date=29 April 2021|archive-date=20 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130220051213/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1996883,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> trading as '''Velcro Companies''' and commonly referred to as '''Velcro''' <ref name=CompanyInfo/> is a British privately held company, founded by Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral in the 1950s. It is the original manufacturer of hook-and-loop fasteners, which de Mestral invented.<ref name=SwissInfo/>
==History<!--linked from 'George de Mestral'-->== thumb|left|A microscopic view of the hook of a Burdock seed [[File:Velcro.jpg|thumb|left|Hook-and-loop fastener, invented by de Mestral]] Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral who studied at EPFL invented his first touch fastener when, in 1941, he went for a walk in the Jura mountains, and wondered why burdock seeds clung to his woolen socks and coat, and also his dog Milka.<ref name=SwissInfo/><ref name=Inventor>{{Cite web|url=https://www.velcro.co.uk/about-us/history/|title=Who Invented VELCRO® {{!}} History of VELCRO® brand and George de Mestral|website=www.Velcro.co.uk|publisher=Velcro IP Holdings LLC|access-date=29 April 2021|archive-date=29 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429224054/https://www.velcro.co.uk/about-us/history/|url-status=live}}</ref> He discovered it could be turned into something useful.<ref name=Time/> He patented it in 1955,<ref name=SwissInfo/><ref name=Time/> and subsequently refined and developed its practical manufacture until its commercial introduction in the late 1950s.
The fastener consisted of two components: a lineal fabric strip with tiny hooks that could 'mate' with another fabric strip with smaller loops, attaching temporarily, until pulled apart.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Definition of Velcro |publisher=Merriam-Webster Dictionary |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Velcro |access-date=29 April 2021 |website= |archive-date=8 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208222819/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Velcro |url-status=live }}</ref> Initially made of cotton, which proved impractical,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Strauss|first=Steven D.|title=The Big Idea: How Business Innovators Get Great Ideas to Market|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F_yOHB54CxsC|date=December 2001|publisher=Kaplan Business|isbn=978-0-7931-4837-0|pages=15–18|access-date=9 May 2008}}</ref> the fastener was eventually constructed with nylon and polyester.<ref name=Time/><ref>{{Cite book|last=Schwarcz|first=Joseph A.|title=Dr. Joe & What You Didn't Know: 99 Fascinating Questions About the Chemistry of Everyday Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vAXcX2xm6esC|date=October 2003|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-55022-577-8|page=178|access-date=9 May 2008|quote=But not every Velcro application has worked ... a strap-on device for impotent men also flopped.}}</ref>
De Mestral gave the name ''Velcro'',<ref name=SwissInfo/><ref name=OED/> a portmanteau of the French words ''velours'' ('velvet') and ''crochet'' ('hook'),<ref name=SwissInfo/><ref name=Time/> to his invention, as well as to the Swiss company he founded; Velcro SA.<ref name=SwissInfo/>
The company continues to manufacture and market the fastening system. Originally envisioned as a fastener for clothing, today, Velcro is used across a wide array of industries and applications; including healthcare, the military, land vehicles, aircraft, and even spacecraft.<ref name=Inventor/>
"Velcro" is used by some as a genericized trademark,<ref name="Why">{{cite book|last=Freeman|first=Allyn|author2=Bob Golden|title=Why Didn't I Think of That: Bizarre Origins of Ingenious Inventions We Couldn't Live Without|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVafPNDvWlYC&q=velcro+George+de+Mestral&pg=PA99|access-date=2008-05-09|date=September 1997|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0-471-16511-8|pages=99–104|archive-date=10 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240910202027/https://books.google.com/books?id=EVafPNDvWlYC&q=velcro+George+de+Mestral&pg=PA99|url-status=live}}</ref> and is additionally sometimes used as a verb.<ref name="OED"/> In 2017, Velcro released a "Don't Say Velcro" campaign in an attempt to keep their brand name distinctive from other hook-and-loop fasteners to help keep their trademark protection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ramer |first=Holly |title=Velcro's video implores consumers to say 'hook and loop' |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/09/26/velcros-video-implores-consumers-say-hook-and-loop/705667001/ |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US |archive-date=26 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126201201/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/09/26/velcros-video-implores-consumers-say-hook-and-loop/705667001/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References== {{Portal|Companies|Engineering|United Kingdom|Switzerland}} {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} {{Wiktionary}} * {{official website|https://www.Velcro.co.uk}} * [https://www.Google.com/patents/US2717437?dq=ininventor:%22Mestral+George+De%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjUwsmn6vTMAhVlF8AKHSTFBfkQ6AEIRzAG Original 1955 patent] — from Google Patents
{{Clothing materials and parts}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1952 establishments in Switzerland Category:Brands that became generic Category:Privately held companies of the United Kingdom