“Fashion Meets Science: Introducing Nylon.” This exhibition will
celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of DuPont’s public
launch of nylon and focuses on the impact that nylon has had on
the fashion industry. Many nylon “firsts” will be included, such
as the hosiery which introduced nylon to the world. On October
27, 1938, DuPont Vice-President Charles A. Stine announced nylon
hosiery to three thousand women’s club members attending the New
York Herald Tribune Eighth Annual Forum on Current Problems. The
audience burst into applause. Both 1939 World’s Fairs in New
York and San Francisco had DuPont exhibits showing the wonders
of the new nylon hosiery. By the time of the first public sale
on October 24, 1939, in Wilmington, women were more than eager
to own nylon stockings. The sale was so successful that within
the first 3 hours of the sale, 4,000 pairs were sold. On
February 10, 1942, the entire production of nylon was allocated
to the war effort. When hosiery became available once again in
1945, so many pe