Are you wearing a pair of jeans? Look down at your zipper.  Chances are it has the letters YKK engraved into it.  You may never have noticed this before or have seen it and wondered why it was there.

YKK is a company founded in Japan 1934 that is now the worlds largest manufacturer of zippers.  Originally called Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha (Yoshida Company Limited), the company changed the name to YKK to match the branding on the zippers in the 90’s. The YKK HQ is based in Japan, but over the years their expansion has now seen them operate in 52 countries at 206 premises. The company produce the entire zipper including the various dyed pieces of cloth that the zipper sits upon. At their factory in Macon, Georgia,  YKK even produce the brass used to craft the teeth.

The functional zipper has only came into our lives over the past 100 years yet it has became such a staple part of not only clothing but accessories such as bags and purses, cushion covers, sports equipment and much more. However the technology has not really changed in that time. You will undoubtedly have experienced a zip jamming or the teeth from the zipper falling out and in the worst case scenario haven’t been able to wear your clothing any more.

Designer clothing manufacturers that don’t want a bad reputation for their garments falling apart have turned to YKK over the years in an attempt to get the best available.  YKK now produce over half of the zippers used on clothing in the world today.  This equates to around 7 billion zippers per annum.

Hopefully we’ve answered your question if you were wondering why YKK was branded onto your zipper.  If you hadn’t noticed then keep this in your memory bank.  You never know when you’ll be on ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire‘ and get asked the question that you know know the answer to.