**A Century-Old Invention Reimagined: YKK’s AiryString Zipper and the Future of Fastening**
For over a hundred years, the zipper has been an unassuming yet indispensable part of daily life. It’s a simple device—two rows of interlocking teeth held together by fabric tape, joined and separated by a sliding pull—that quietly holds together billions of garments, bags, and accessories around the world. Despite its ubiquity and importance, the zipper’s design has remained largely unchanged since its inception in the early 20th century. Its reliability and simplicity have been enough to make it the fastening solution of choice for everything from blue jeans to high-end outerwear.
But as materials and fashion demands have evolved, the venerable zipper has started to show its age. Now, for the first time in a century, a major innovation is shaking up this old standby. YKK, the Japanese company that produces roughly half of all the world’s zippers, has introduced a groundbreaking new design: the AiryString zipper. This seemingly minor update—removing the fabric tape that has always flanked the zipper’s teeth—has resulted in a fastening system that is lighter, sleeker, and more flexible than anything that has come before it.
**Meet YKK: The Quiet Giant of Fastening**
Before diving into this new zipper, it’s worth understanding the company behind the innovation. YKK, short for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha, is a name that may not be familiar to many consumers, but its products almost certainly are. If you look closely at the zipper pull on your jacket, backpack, or pants, there’s a good chance it’s stamped with those three letters. Founded in Japan in 1934, YKK has grown into a global powerhouse, with more than $6 billion in annual revenue and a presence in 71 countries and regions. Its zippers are used by brands as diverse as Prada, Arc’teryx, Patagonia, and The North Face.
YKK’s dominance is partly due to its unusual degree of vertical integration. The company manufactures its own machinery, designs its molds, and even spins the thread used in its products. This allows YKK to control the quality of its zippers at every stage and to experiment with new designs and processes in ways competitors simply can’t match. This commitment to innovation, paired with a relentless focus on reliability and quality, has made YKK the global standard in zipper technology.
**Why Change the Zipper Now?**
For most of its life, the zipper has changed little for a reason: it works. The traditional design is sturdy, inexpensive, and easy to sew into garments. For decades, these qualities were enough. However, as the textiles industry has advanced, designers now work with new types of fabrics—ultralight nylons, stretchy synthetics, and complex technical blends. These high-performance materials, which often behave more like a second skin than traditional cloth, have increasingly clashed with the zipper’s older, bulkier construction.
Makoto Nishizaki, vice president of YKK’s Application Development Division, explains that there has been a growing demand from clothing manufacturers for lighter, more flexible garments. These demands naturally extend to the components used in those garments, including zippers. The traditional zipper’s woven fabric tape and rigid seams have begun to feel out of step with the cutting-edge materials and minimalist designs favored by modern apparel makers.
**The AiryString: A Simple Change with Big Impacts**
In response to these changing needs, YKK began working in 2017 with JUKI Corporation, a leading maker of industrial sewing machines, to reimagine the zipper from the ground up. Their collaboration culminated in the AiryString, which made its public debut at the JIAM 2022 Osaka trade show. At first glance, AiryString looks much like any other zipper, but on closer inspection, it’s clear that something is missing: the fabric tape that has always bordered the zipper’s teeth.
This absence of tape transforms the zipper in several important ways. First, it makes the zipper significantly lighter, reducing the overall weight of the garment. Second, without the stiff, woven borders, the AiryString is far more flexible and can move more naturally with the fabric. This results in a zipper that lies flatter against the body, allowing the garment to drape more naturally and feel less mechanical. It also gives designers