Gideon Sundback patented the modern zipper design in 1917, greatly improving clothing fasteners.
Sundback, a Swedish-American electrical engineer, developed the separable fastener while working for the Universal Fastener Company in Hoboken, New Jersey. His design used two facing rows of interlocking teeth and a slider that joined or separated them. Earlier fasteners had used hooks, eyes, or less reliable clasp arrangements.
Whitcomb Judson patented an earlier slide fastener in 1893, and Gideon Sundback improved that concept rather than inventing every predecessor from nothing. Sundback’s 1917 patent, commonly known as the “Separable Fastener,” made the mechanism more practical and dependable.
The name “zipper” became popular later, after B. F. Goodrich used the fastener on boots in the 1930s. Zippers eventually spread from footwear to clothing, luggage, tents, and many other products.