Riri have a long history dating back to 1923. They were one of the first to pioneer the zipper in Europe, and today Riri zips, buttons, snaps and rivets grace a large number of luxury products, as well as rugged outdoor and sports clothing.

Dr Martin Winterhalter, a Swiss-born inventor, perfected a zip he named the Rille-Rippe, taken from the German words for ‘concave’ and ‘convex’ because of the shapes formed by its teeth. The success of Rille-Rippe led to Riri – a shortening of the original name – as well as the first die-cast plastic zip, merged with nylon tape, which was developed to address the post-World War II metal shortage. They were favoured by the military because of their high tensile strength, while today they’re used in leather goods and shoes.