Originally created as a substitute for rubber, spandex was an integral part of the 1980s fashion scene. How did "spandex" get its name?

Spandex is a polyether-polyurea copolymer invented in 1958 at DuPont's Benger Laboratory in Virginia. While it's true that the name is an anagram of the word "expands," it's known in Europe by a different name: "elastane".

Asked by Tom Cohen · Last updated 5 years ago · 2.8K views