Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof and at least here in this so-called "third world" country plenty of people makes their clothing to be repaired in any way or do it themselves (even me, sometimes)
I had at least z dozen zippers replaced through my life. Some times you a very good product with poorly chosen zipper, some times it is some sort of an accident.
I find the idea of buying a new coat instead of fixing a small part of the old one weird.
You just get an extra semi rigid fabric track when you repair. Your clothes should still work.
Usually the teeth are attached somehow to the fabric strip. I think the strip has a ridge at the edge where the teeth go, and the teeth are clamped over that ridge to hold them in place. Then the fabric strip is easy to sew onto a garment. It looks like the new design has only the ridge, hence it's called a string, and is hard to sew onto a garment.
"Without them, YKK had to rethink every step of production
The teeth were redesigned, the manufacturing process rewritten, and new machinery developed to attach the closure to garments. “The absence of the tape posed various production challenges,” Nishizaki says."
https://ykkdigitalshowroom.com/assets/AiryString_202507_en.p...
It looks like there is a core cord inside the zipper teeth. The specialized sewing machine stitches the cord to the fabric in between each teeth... tooth?
1: https://ykkdigitalshowroom.com/assets/80006b690a9e47db1e62ad...
> The AiryString® tapeless zipper is designed for elements to be sewn directly onto fabric by a special machine.
This new one requires a special machine to sew it.
Until a few years ago they had a hold on the upper end of the market. The chinese competitor's quality was unreliable enough that clothing manufacturers were willing to pay a premium to ensure a failed zipper does not trash a garment. That situation has been changing, and chinese companies are offering zippers which are getting used on progressively higher end products.
By releasing a new product with substantial changes and thus patentability they can buy a few decades at the top of the market. I suspect this technology has been in development for a long time, and held back until competitors were threatening the premium traditional zipper market.
Seems like the target use case is Athleisure?
My first thought was "Arc'teryx will probably adopt this immediately." They (and similar brands) are already pushing as hard as they can on seamlessness or very very tight seams.
Major downgrade for maintainability and ability to repair.
This "upgraded" zipper will be impossible to replace if broken at home, by hand or with a machine, or even at a typical professional repair shop. YKK documents say a "dedicated AiryString® sewing machine" is required.[1]
[1]https://ykkdigitalshowroom.com/assets/AiryString_202507_en.p...
I have t-shirts from 2010 which are faded but have 0 holes. Whereas t-shirts I bought half a year ago have holes in them.
Also, you mentioning the inability to repair stuff at home makes me sad. My mom, 72 year old, repaired my nephew's jacket the other day. Brand new zipper.
The machine in that PDF you shared makes me feel YKK is going in the direction of Apple. They supply the parts and the manufacturing device.
You do something they don't like? Sewing machine turns off.
"All AiryString® part sales and leasing of dedicated sewing machines are conducted between YKK and the customer. YKK will also coordinate the installation and startup of sewing machines at garment manufacturing factories. For more information on leasing dedicated sewing machines, please contact your YKK representative"
This is alien to SF AI startups and patent trolls.
Amorymeltzer•2h ago
Over the summer, they had an episode about the zipper—<https://articlesofinterest.substack.com/p/new-episode-zipper...> and <https://www.articlesofinterest.co/podcast/episode/2b1f2292/z...>—which is well worth a listen.