Forever Fashion

When nylon stockings debuted to the public in 1940, they were an instant hit.

A synthetic fiber initially used in toothbrush bristles, nylon was a more affordable and elastic alternative to silk. Nearly 192 million pairs were produced within the first year, but demand for the revolutionary synthetic hosiery exceeded supplies. In 1945, “nylon riots” ensued around the country when hundreds, thousands, and sometimes even tens of thousands of women queued up to try and obtain a single pair.

In the decades that followed nylon’s debut, the plastics industry underwent a significant expansion as synthetic materials increasingly replaced silk and cotton in a wide range of products. For example, when polyurethane emerged as a substitute for natural rubber, the fashion industry quickly embraced it, using the material to make flattering Spandex and Lycra swimwear as well as polyurethane-coated fabrics for everything from ski suits to faux leather jackets. People clamored for these easy-wear and easy-care textiles.

While our relationship with synthetic fashion continues to evolve, plastics remain an important artifact not only of the past but also of our present and future. For over a decade, the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) has been on a mission to conserve plastics in cultural heritage collections. Currently managed by plastics conservator Anna Laganà, the Preservation of Plastics project aims to understand and slow down the aging of these materials, establish suitable approaches to their preservation, and design appropriate conservation treatments.

“Plastics are ubiquitous in our lives and in our collections,” Laganà says. “Over time, we’ve discovered that plastics can be unstable and present unique conservation challenges, making it critical to invest in research to ensure that we are able to preserve this significant part of our heritage for the future.”

Forever or fragile?

Plastics gained prominence in fashion during the 20th century due to their affordability, durability, and versatility. While it is true that plastics can take a long time to fully decompose, we now know these materials can also be quite unstable.

Some plastic materials change and degrade—they can crack, dissolve into crumbs, weep out additives, or melt into sludge. All of this poses quite a challenge for curators and conservators who are trying to preserve culturally important fashion textiles and objects.

Over the last 30 years, synthetic materials like cellulose acetate, cellulose nitrate, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polyurethane have shown to be among the most unstable plastics, Laganà notes.

“Some objects made with these materials are unfortunately no longer able to be displayed and remain permanently in storage,” she says, “while others are in such poor condition that they have been considered a total loss.”

Polyurethane is considered one of the most problematic plastics in museum collections due to its inherent instability and susceptibility to degradation from light (photo-oxidation) and humidity (hydrolysis). A research area Laganà and her colleagues are currently working on focuses on investigating issues related to these polymers, particularly polyurethane rubber and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) used as coatings on fabric.

In the 1960s, TPU gained popularity after boundary-pushing designers like Mary Quant and André Courrèges used PVC-coated fabrics in their designs to mimic the look of leather or rubber. TPU became the preferred plastic for the wet look aesthetic and other faux leather garments because it was more flexible and water-resistant than PVC.

TPU has been widely used as a coating for fabrics and is now frequently encountered in fashion collections, often as leather substitutes or to create faux leather with glossy, metallic, or waterproof finishes. Recently, TPU has begun to exhibit signs of deterioration.

The bloom effect

Earlier this year, Laganà and Joy Mazurek, biologist at the GCI, joined InBloom, a collaborative research initiative led by the NOVA School of Science and Technology in Portugal, with eight partner institutions. The project, including scientists, conservators, curators, and industry experts, focuses on conserving TPU-coated fabrics in fashion and design collections affected by blooming.

Blooming is a degradation phenomenon that presents as white crystalline deposits—a whitish appearance to the naked eye—on a fabric’s surface. This damage can significantly alter the object’s aesthetic and material integrity.

Previous research carried out by part of the InBloom team in a project called Glossy Surfaces determined that blooming affected about 60 percent of TPU-coated fabrics found in the collection surveyed during the project. Despite its widespread occurrence, there are no established guidelines to address it.

“While we have many well-established methods for conserving traditional materials, the same cannot be said for plastics—the conservation of these materials is still a relatively new field in continuous development,” Laganà says.

InBloom is bringing experts together to deepen the understanding of this phenomenon by identifying and characterizing the composition of this deposit and evaluating its impact on the textile as well as conservation strategies.

“The goal of conservation is to maintain the object’s authenticity while carefully addressing any damage or deterioration,” Laganà says. “One aspect that we will address in the project is whether blooming contributes to further degradation of the material—and assess any implications of either removing or retaining the migrated substance.”

The researchers will also run a series of interviews to explore how blooming affects curatorial decisions, as well as how fashion designers perceive those material changes occurring on their works.

Once the InBloom team determines the cause and composition of blooming, informed decisions can be made about whether to remove the deposit, how to prevent it from occurring, and how to treat TPU-coated and other polymer-coated textiles.

Clear solutions

While treatment options for TPU-coated textiles will be evaluated in the later stages of the InBloom project, some plastics found in fashion collections are already well-researched, with established strategies for their conservation. Lucite—the brand name for polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)—is one such example.

Unlike nylon, with its flexible properties perfect for use in textiles and garments, PMMA—also known as Plexiglas—is rigid and transparent, like glass, ideal for fashion accessories such as Lucite handbags. Popular in the 1950s, the square design was inspired by jewelry boxes and manufactured in translucent colors so the contents of the purse were visible.

PMMA, while generally more impact-resistant than glass, is also more prone to surface damage, such as scratching and gouging. As part of the GCI’s Preservation of Plastics project, Laganà and her colleagues investigated treatments for damaged transparent plastics in art and design objects to determine how to recover their original visual qualities.

“When a fashion designer chooses transparent plastic, it’s because they want you to see through their creation,” Laganà says. “Therefore, recovering the transparency lost due to damage is essential to preserve the original vision and intent behind the design.”

The research led to innovative treatment methods for PMMA, including readhering broken pieces, filling scratches and chips, and reconstructing missing fragments. These treatment methods provide helpful tools for conservators working to restore any damaged transparent plastics used to produce fashion items, from Lucite bags to eyeglasses and costume jewelry.

Collaboration is conservation

Fashion collections dating from the 20th century onward face significant preservation challenges due to the amount and variety of synthetic materials found in clothing, shoes, handbags, and accessories. Unfortunately, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to conserving these objects.

To properly care for and preserve our plastic fashion heritage, a multipronged, collaborative approach that leverages expertise across disciplines is necessary. Treatment options for traditional materials that are better established can serve as a useful starting point when developing interventions for plastics.

For example, when Laganà was researching transparent plastics, she consulted with glass conservators and looked at how they restored the transparency in glass. “Understanding how a glass conservator works and combining that with our knowledge of transparent plastics—their degradation and their properties—has been key in guiding us toward the most effective solutions,” Laganà says.

She and her colleagues are now applying the same approach to treating plastics in fashion, by working closely with textile conservators. “Looking into plastics means looking at the future, but it also means learning from the past—learning from other disciplines,” Laganà says.

Laganà is incredibly excited about this new project. “It brings together many elements I’m fascinated with: plastics—and the challenges they present— and fashion—which combines material knowledge, cultural history, creativity, and personal identity,” she says.

“As an Italian, fashion has always been close to me,” she adds. “It’s a form of expression that can reflect who we are, and preserving it means keeping all our stories alive.”