The modern zipper is less than 100 years old. It was designed in 1913 by Gideon Sundbäck, a Swedish-American inventor who worked as an engineer at a fastening company. The introduction of opposing rows of metal (and later plastic) teeth that could mesh together using a slider was, in its own way, as revolutionary as the later invention of velcro. Before that, it was all hooks and eyes, buttons and ribbons and lace —
Today the world’s largest manufacturer of zippers is the YKK Group in Japan, founded by Tadao Yoshida in 1934 and renamed Yoshida Kogyo KK in 1945. In 1946 the company registered YKK as a trademark — the three little letters that you see on about 90% of all zipper pulls today.
Jewellery designer Noni Dubazana, who, with business partner Cheryl Gxekwa, makes up fashion and accessories label Babycakes Goodies, came across a reference to a small flower made out of a zipper last year, while she was trolling the internet.
“I check the internet all the time. There was a growing trend for big necklaces, but I wanted to make something people would want to wear here. I started playing around with zippers, and eventually found what I wanted in an upholstery store on Market Street. It was the last of their stock. There are different weights of zippers; heavy-duty ones create the best effect. I like the contrast between the colour of the fabric and the metal. I cut the zipper into different lengths and started shaping them, coiling them around, stitching them together, trying to find a shape I liked.”
Dubazana and Gxekwa’s standout piece is a R450 creation they refer to as the butterfly necklace. It has the weight of a heavy chain, but suggests something far more delicate and organic. “I can never get the sides of the butterfly exactly the same, so each one is different,” Dubazana says.
The necklace, which went on sale at the Babycakes stall at Johannesburg’s new Market on Main in January, takes about five hours to make. The two have been so overwhelmed by orders for the neckpiece, they now want to hire extra hands to keep up with demand. “We’re a small business,” they say, “and it’s difficult to know where to go for help. We’re interested in learning from other designers, how they did it when they were starting out.”
You can find new and vintage Babycakes Goodies on sale at Market on Main every Sunday, or email them at [email protected].