Joseph Shivers wanted to make better underwear for women. In many ways, he was the predecessor of Sara Blakely, the woman who created Spanx, and the founding father of shapewear. At first, he was "working on a project to develop a synthetic elastomer to replace rubber, then the mainstay of foundation garments,” according to the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists. The idea was to create more comfortable underwear and girdles, but the original project failed. “Unable to find a fiber ...