Fabrikoid, patented in October 1915,
is a brand of
artificial leather
Artificial leather, also called synthetic leather, is a material intended to substitute for leather in upholstery, clothing, footwear, and other uses where a leather-like finish is desired but the actual material is cost
prohibitive or unsuitab ...
manufactured by
DuPont
DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...
.
Material
Fabrikoid consists of cotton cloth coated with
pyroxylin
Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...
(a less nitrated
nitrocellulose
Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...
, dissolved in castor oil, alcohol, benzene and amyl acetate).
Fabrikoid has been used for luggage, bookbinding,
upholstery and dress trimmings.
History
In 1910, DuPont purchased
Newburgh, New York
Newburgh is a city in the U.S. state of New York, within Orange County. With a population of 28,856 as of the 2020 census, it is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area. Located north of New York City, a ...
's Fabrikoid Company.
By the 1920s Fabrikoid was used heavily in both automobile seat covers and the tops of convertible automobiles.
Gilbert Rohde
Gilbert Rohde (1894–1944), whose career as a furniture and industrial designer helped to define American modernism during its first phase from the late 1920s to World War II, is best known today for inaugurating modern design at Herman Miller ...
conducted some of the early experiments on its uses in upholstery.
Further reading
*Robert Kanigel FAUX REAL: Genuine Leather and 200 Years of Inspired Fakes. Washington D.C.: Joseph Henry Press, 2007.
*Meikle, Jeffrey L
“Presenting a New Material: From Imitation to Innovation with Fabrikoid.”''The Journal of the Decorative Arts Society 1850 - the Present'', no. 19 (1995): 8–15.
References
External links
*
Artificial leather
DuPont products
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