Trevira

You're probably thinking, "Haven't you worn that tie with that shirt before? Why the repeat?" No, that was a different psychedelic floral freakout tie. That one was silk, while this one (designer unknown) is made of Trevira polyester, a polyester so special it has its own brand name. Trevira is made of fibers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the same material used to make soda bottles, which is 100% recyclable (its resin identification code is 1 -- that's the number inside the triangular recycling symbol). Trevira was developed in 1956 in Bobingen, Germany, its namesake company being a branch of pharmaceutical conglomerate Hoechst AG. I can't tell who owns Trevira today, as the company has been bought and sold several times in the last decade by different corporate consortia, but they're still manufacturing it by the ton (130,000 per year at full capacity). I haven't seen it used in any neckties lately. Surely recyclability could be a selling point? (But really, any necktie is recyclable via that greatest recycler of all, ebay.)

(You may have noticed that the angle of this photo is different from most of the others. That's because this picture was taken by my eleven-year-old son, who is a foot shorter than my wife, who usually takes the pictures. This is his first published photo; I am so proud of him!)

Update (1/13): I just took that other floral freakout tie out of the closet, and guess what, it's not silk after all, it's... Trevira! D'oh!