(Source: unsplash.com)

Trailing the Fashion Week in New York and major cities of Europe last month, Seoul Fashion Week brings forth its anticipated Spring/Summer 2019 trend at Dongdaemun Design Park(DDP) on October 20. Setting Asia’s market trends, this global fashion event is held twice each year in March and October attended by major fashion influencers. Gathered by fashionistas from across the country, the DDP is an attraction by itself even without the need for an entrance ticket to the show.

Although we usually associate a fashion material with cloth or fabric, steel material is an essential element to fashionistas in the world of street fashion. A major item is the zipper which has surpassed its basic function of zipping up clothing and has gradually assumed a more unique role in the industry. Steel material in clothing comes in many unique forms and POSCO Newsroom further explores these amusing details.

Zipper, a Casually Chic and Hip Decoration

Commonly attached to most clothing, a slider of a zipper binds or opens the edges of clothes that consist of rows of teeth on either side. Both the elements of the zipper—the slider and teeth are  created with steel. A variety of alternative materials such as nickel, brass, aluminum and more recently, plastic has taken its place instead. With time, these essential parts of jackets, pullovers, and pants have established itself as fashionable decorations.

In fact, its presentation last month at Paris Fashion Week showcasing Spring/Summer 2019 trend has inspired the world’s fashion.

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The most striking event of the show was Hedi Slimane’s debut designs for Celine. Stealing the limelight, he revealed his first collection after his takeover as creative director.

Hedi Slimane’s Celine collection was a whole new look and a stark contrast to Celine’s existing brand image created by Phoebe Philo, which revealed impressive leather jacket zipper and metal studs. The leather was densely studded and the zipper had ranging styles creating a modern and chic look.

The Origin of the Zipper

The zipper was first invented by a factory worker from Chicago named Whitcomb L. Judson. It was displayed at Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 by the name, “C-curity” although it failed to be commercialized due to lack of practical use.

The zipper as we now know it was developed by Gideon Sundback in 1913 and then actually marketed as “zipper” a decade later in 1923 by B.F. Goodrich Company. The name was derived from the sound it makes when fastening. Since then, the active sales of the zipper gradually encouraged prevailing appearance in the fashion industry as a casual yet chic decoration element.

Studs and Leather, Go Together

Studs decorating the leather jackets by Hedi Slimane are items that create various clothing styles. Its application on a range of fashion items such as jackets, hair accessories, and bracelets are notable yet the most striking use is seen on leather bags, generating an elegant and classic look.

Recently, simple yet eye-catching stud decorations are becoming universal among bags with minimal designs. These studs decorate either the entire bag or its straps. The addition of studs to these contemporary bags creates refined yet unique designs.

Button studs and round ball studs are types of fasteners commonly used in leather handicrafts. Creating a hole and fitting in any type of fastener to a leather wallet will give it a classic look without diminishing the overall impression of the leather.

Another Keen Fashion Element: Surgical Stainless Steel

Surgical stainless steel is a casual term used for tools made of steel for medical treatment purposes such as scalpels and injection needles. However, this very material is used on the manufacturing of clothes worn by fashionistas as minimal decorations.

The cause for its use in fashion is due to its high resistance to discoloration and capability for long-term use.

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Another attractive feature of the surgical stainless steel is its absence of allergy-inducing nickel. Recent bracelets made of surgical stainless steel is highly popular as fashion jewelry.

As witnessed, steel can surprisingly transform into a fashion item of class and beauty. If one is aiming for a casually chic style, preparing a steel-decorated leather jacket and a bag this autumn would do the trick. Use of even more diverse steel material is expected in the upcoming Spring/Summer 2019 trend of the Seoul Fashion Week.

It is also the most common material found in medical supplies that contribute to people’s health and safety on a daily basis.  

Surgical Steel

“Surgical steel” is a term used to describe stainless steels for medical applications, and are generally made up of 316, 440 and 420 stainless steels. Surgical stainless steels are corrosion resistant, have a shiny, aesthetically pleasing exterior and are extremely hygienic. Plus, they have a long life cycle and require minimal maintenance.

Surgical steel is also used for screws and joints that hold bones together. (Source: National Geographic)

Due to these properties, surgical steel is the material found in medical equipment such as syringes, scalpels and gauges. Moreover, screws used to hold broken bones together and other parts for application inside the body are made of surgical stainless steel.

For the same reasons, surgical steel is also used to make jewelry.

Know anyone who is allergic to certain types of jewelry? Often times people think they are allergic to gold or silver, but chances are, they are allergic to other alloying elements, the most common one being nickel. In the United States, up to 17 percent of women and 3 percent of men are allergic to nickel, and the number is rising. Surgical steel with zero nickel content is a safe and cost-friendly alternative, and demand for the hypoallergenic material is growing.

Surgical steel is commonly applied to piercing jewelry. (Source: Elixa)

Surgical steel was a part of the 45.8 million metric tons of stainless steel produced globally in 2016, almost double the 24.5 million metric tons produced in 2005. The growing demand and application of stainless steel are playing a positive role in the economy, but it has also been the cause of environmental pollution.

POSCO’s Surgical Steel

One of POSCO’s surgical stainless steels is the PossRB1. It is comparable to the 420J2 stainless steel that is often applied to kitchen blades, however, it has a much higher level of hardness, and thus can be applied to surgical scalpels and razor blades.

Surgical scalpels come in direct contact with the body and need to be especially clean and non-corrosive. (Source: NY Times)

Another example is POSCO’s 304i stainless steel used to make syringe needles. It is an upgraded version of 304 stainless steel with a 9 percent nickel content, traditionally applied to syringe needles. The production process of syringe needles is demanding and require multiple steps to process into the desired thinness and diameter. To add, the materials need to be especially clean, or else the needle can fracture or not reach the desired thinness. POSCO’s 304i stainless steel is manufactured using POSCO’s strip casting technology and can be processed into the thinnest diameter requirements for 32 gauge needles (dental needles).

Syringe needles require a demanding production process. (Source: Tangent Industries)

POSCO’s poStrip Technology for Stainless Steel Production

In order to reduce the harmful environmental effects of steelmaking on the environment, POSCO partnered with the Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology (RIST) in 1989, to come up with an innovative technology for stainless steel production called poStrip, or POSCO’s strip casting technology.   

The poStrip technology is an innovative way to make steel production more sustainable. (Source: POSCO E&C)

For more than 13 years, POSCO and RIST experimented with a twin-roll strip casting system where thin strips of steel can be produced in a single, continuous process. Hot molten steel passes through two cylindrical rollers that rotate and cool the hot steel sheets immediately, thus eliminating the need for hot rolling. In conventional casting processes, molten iron is poured into molding frames to produce steel slabs that are then rolled into sheets.

The new technology vastly reduced the cost of production, delivery time as well as the amount of harmful emissions created in the steelmaking process. In the end, POSCO’s poStrip technology was perfected and applied to various types and grades of POSCO’s stainless steels.

Not only is the innovative technology cost-effective and sustainable, it produces better quality steels.

In 2015, POSCO received the Steelie Award for Innovation of the year from the World Steel Association. POSCO was recognized for its high-quality stainless steel products that were produced with the innovative strip-casting production technology. POSCO will continue to research and improve the production and overall quality of stainless steels so that its partners can manufacture world-premium supplies, machines and architecture.