Short answer
Who invented the zipper? Three people share the credit. Whitcomb Judson patented a hook-and-eye “clasp locker” in 1893, meant to replace shoelaces, but it jammed and sold poorly. Gideon Sundback, an engineer at Judson’s company, redesigned it in 1913 into the reliable fastener we use today. And the name came from a rubber company, B.F. Goodrich, which called its boots “Zipper Boots” in 1923.
Key takeaways
- Elias Howe patented a fastener for garments in 1851 but never marketed it seriously.
- Whitcomb Judson patented his “clasp locker” in 1893, intended for shoes; it jammed often and sold poorly.
- Gideon Sundback, an engineer at Judson’s company, redesigned it in 1913 into the fastener we use today, and patented his “separable fastener” in 1917.
- The name “zipper” came from B.F. Goodrich, which used the fastener on rubber boots in 1923.
- The zipper reached men’s trousers in the 1930s, after years of competition with the button.
The zipper is one of those objects that seem too simple to need an inventor. In fact, it took about thirty years of failure and improvement before it worked well enough to replace buttons, and the result still carries the name of a marketing idea for boots.
A patent nobody used
The first step is usually credited to Elias Howe, better known for the sewing machine. In 1851 he received a US patent for an “Improvement in Fastenings for Garments”, a kind of clasp that could close a gap in clothing. He never marketed it seriously, and the idea went nowhere.
Judson’s clasp locker
In the 1890s, an inventor named Whitcomb Judson had a practical problem in mind: the long, button-hooked shoes of the time took a tedious amount of work to fasten. On August 29, 1893, he received a patent for his “clasp locker”, a row of hooks and eyes closed by a sliding guide.
Judson tried to show it at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, without success. The US Postal Service ordered twenty mail bags with the new fastener, then cancelled the order because the locks kept jamming. With the backing of an investor, Colonel Lewis Walker, Judson founded the Universal Fastener Company to develop it, but he died in 1909 without seeing it succeed.
Sundback makes it work
The real breakthrough came from Gideon Sundback, an engineer who worked for Judson’s company. In 1913, he dropped the hook-and-eye design and replaced it with rows of small interlocking teeth, pulled together and apart by a slider. The result was smaller, lighter and much more reliable. It went on sale that same year.
Sundback kept refining the design and the machines that made it, and in 1917 he received a patent for his “separable fastener”. Its first large customer was the US Army, which placed the first big orders during the First World War.
A name from a boot
For years, the device had no catchy name. In 1923, the rubber company B.F. Goodrich used the fastener on a line of rubber boots and called them “Zipper Boots”. The name stuck, first for the boots and then for the fastener itself.
The battle of the fly
Even with a name, the zipper took time to win over fashion. Through the 1920s it appeared more and more on civilian clothing. In 1935, the designer Elsa Schiaparelli made it a fashion statement in her spring collection, which The New Yorker described as “dripping with zippers”. In 1937, the zipper won what has been called the “Battle of the Fly”, becoming accepted on men’s trousers in place of buttons.
Three inventors, one object
| Who | When | What they contributed |
|---|---|---|
| Elias Howe | 1851 | A patented garment fastener, never marketed |
| Whitcomb Judson | 1893 | The clasp locker: the first working, but unreliable, version |
| Gideon Sundback | 1913 to 1917 | The modern design with interlocking teeth |
| B.F. Goodrich | 1923 | The name “zipper” |
What the story tells us
The zipper is a good example of how an invention is usually a process rather than a moment. Judson had the idea and the patent; Sundback had the design that worked; a rubber company had the name that sold it. If you had to pick a single inventor, Sundback has the strongest claim, but the zipper as an object we recognize needed all three.
The toothbrush also took several inventors and centuries of small changes to reach its modern form. See Who Invented the Toothbrush?, or browse Everyday Objects.
Frequently asked questions
Who invented the zipper?
Whitcomb Judson patented the first working version, the clasp locker, in 1893, and Gideon Sundback designed the modern zipper in 1913.
Why is it called a zipper?
The name comes from B.F. Goodrich, which used the fastener on rubber boots in 1923 and called them “Zipper Boots”.
What was the zipper first used for?
Judson designed it to fasten shoes. The first large customer for Sundback’s version was the US Army during the First World War.
When did zippers appear on trousers?
They became accepted on men’s trousers in the 1930s, after years of competition with buttons.