The first fully synthetic fiber was invented to replace silk stockings

Chemist Wallace Carothers led DuPont's research team to create nylon in 1935, the first fiber made entirely from petrochemicals rather than plants or animals. Marketed from 1940 as a silk replacement, it sold out almost instantly, then went entirely into wartime production — parachutes, rope, tires — triggering real shortages and 1945's 'nylon riots' among American shoppers once war ended.

— Wallace Carothers, Nylon — First synthesized at DuPont, 1935