Gannex is a waterproof fabric composed of an outer layer of nylon and an inner layer of wool with air between them. The trapped air is contained in pockets formed by fusing ("spot welding") the two layers at intervals.[1] It was invented in 1951 by Joseph Kagan, a UK industrialist and the founder of Kagan Textiles Ltd., of Elland, which made raincoats. The company is now defunct. The mill occupied by the company was demolished in 2010.[2] The raincoats were worn by a number of well-known people, such as the Prime Minister Harold Wilson.[3]
References[edit]
- ^ "Cold Comfort Clothes". New Scientist. Reed Business Information. 31 January 1957. p. 22.
- ^ "A landmark is vanishing" Archived 26 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Halifax Courier, 22 December 2010.
- ^ Comfort, Nicholas (2012). Surrender How British industry gave up the ghost 1952-2012. New York: Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781849543163.
- John A. Hargreaves, "Kagan, Joseph, Baron Kagan (1915–1995)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 17 Dec 2006