It was the British inventor Joseph Swan who produced the first man-made silk in 1883. The first artificial silk or rayon manufacturing, factory was founded by Hilaire de Chardonnet in 890. However, his manufacturing process was unsafe. A safer viscose process of making rayon was patented by C. S. Cross in 1892.
Wallace Carothers, a chemist from the American chemical company DL Pont, developed the very first all-synthetic fibre. In 938, the company chose the name nylon for the product.
Though nylon was used to make toothbrushes in the early days, the principles used in the making of nylon were soon adapted to create other synthetic fibres.
Polyester was discoverer it 1941 by the British chemists James Dickson and Rex Whinfield, Later, many synthetic fibres with better qualities were made, Lycra is the best example, marketed by Du Pont in 1959.
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