What is "qiana"

Qiana is a silky nylon fiber developed in 1962 at the DuPont Experimental Station by Stanley Brooke Speck. The fiber was named Qiana when introduced by DuPont in 1968. Initially intended for high-end fashions, it became a popular material in the 1970s for faux-silk men's shirts, displaying bold patterns. The shirts were generally cut tight and included wide collars to fit over the collars of the double-knit suit coats which were worn popularly to discos.

Qiana is described in U.S. patent 3249591 as a polyamide fabric having improved resilience and silk-like hand, combined with superior wash-wear performance. The polymer is prepared from the diamine bis(para-aminocyclohexyl)methane and dodecanedioic acid.