How Velcro Came About

Velcro was inspired by the way burrs stick to clothing. A Swiss engineer noticed the tiny hooks and loops on burrs and recreated them.

It all started in 1941 when George de Mestral, an engineer from Switzerland, went on a walk with his dog. When they got home, both were covered in burrs, the little prickly seeds that stick like glue to socks, shoelaces, and fur.

Instead of getting annoyed, George got curious. He grabbed a microscope and looked closely at the burrs. What he saw was genius-level nature: tiny hooks on the burrs were clinging to loops in the fabric. That’s what made them so sticky!

George wondered if he could copy this natural design. It took years of experimenting with different materials, but eventually he created two strips, one with soft loops and one with stiff hooks. Press them together and... they hold tight. Pull them apart and... they make that satisfying ripping sound.

He called it Velcro, a mashup of the French words velours (velvet) and crochet (hook). And just like that, a nature-inspired invention changed everything from shoes and jackets to spacesuits and even underwater gear.