# Velcro Companies

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velcro_Companies
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{{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](/source/Privately_held_company)
| industry = Manufacturing: fastening systems
| founded = <!-- if known: {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} in [city](/source/city), country -->
| founder = [George de Mestral](/source/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](/source/Chief_executive_officer))|William Hamilton ([CFO](/source/Chief_Financial_Officer))}}<ref name=CompanyInfo/>
| products = [Hook-and-loop fastener](/source/Hook-and-loop_fastener)s, 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](/source/Swiss_Broadcasting_Corporation)|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](/source/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](/source/Time_(magazine))|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](/source/George_de_Mestral) in the 1950s. It is the original manufacturer of [hook-and-loop fastener](/source/hook-and-loop_fastener)s, 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](/source/Hook-and-loop_fastener), invented by [de Mestral](/source/George_de_Mestral)]]
Swiss [electrical engineer](/source/electrical_engineer) [George de Mestral](/source/George_de_Mestral) who studied at [EPFL](/source/EPFL) invented his first touch fastener when, in 1941, he went for a walk in the [Jura mountains](/source/Jura_Mountains), and wondered why [burdock](/source/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](/source/Merriam-Webster) |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](/source/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](/source/ECW_Press)|isbn=978-1-55022-577-8|page=178|access-date=9 May 2008|quote=But not every Velcro application has worked&nbsp;... a strap-on device for impotent men also flopped.}}</ref>

De Mestral gave the name ''Velcro'',<ref name=SwissInfo/><ref name=OED/> a [portmanteau](/source/portmanteau) of the French words ''[velour](/source/velour)s'' ('velvet') and ''[crochet](/source/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](/source/Generic_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](/source/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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Velcro Companies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velcro_Companies) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velcro_Companies?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.