Independent Research Project: Proposal and Historical Questions

I wanted to look at nylon because I’m really interested in and like Prada’s nylon collection. At the very beginning, Prada didn’t want to use premium materials, she wanted to use plebeian materials to challenge luxury, so she chose nylon. She developed the use of nylon at the same time, because using nylon to make it required a whole new technology than using leather. Nylon has advantages that no other material can match, which I will explore in my analysis. Now that nylon is a main line and a popular product for Prada as a brand, I want to explore how nylon came back into the spotlight and became popular. I will start with the discovery of nylon and its use as a textile until it became commonplace. I also want to analyze the obstacles to the development of nylon, perhaps the development of nylon as a textile material that people reduced or stopped using. The complexity of nylon production and production volume is also one of the measures of nylon as a textile material. As well as the development of mechanized production of nylon material. Finally until now, nylon reemerged as the choice of people because of its material and advantages.

My question is what are the advantages of nylon that are so popular now. What is so special about nylon compared to other materials that makes this material stand out and become the new choice for luxury goods and sell like hot cakes.

Comment: I think you will just want to sharpen up your historical timeline on this project (so for example, when you write things like “at the very beginning” when exactly do you mean?)–it’s not a problem if you are talking about relatively recent history but you do want to try to use a historical approach to your research such as considering change over time, or explaining how the textiles or fashion you are studying are situated in their historical circumstances. This should be very achievable!