Artificial silk or (art silk is a synthetic manufactured fiber which resembles silk but costs less to produce frequently. The first successful artificial silks were developed in the 1890s of cellulose (wood) fiber and marketed as art silk or viscose, In 1924, the name of the fiber was officially changed in the U.S. to rayon, although the term viscose continued to be used in Europe and currently the material is referred to in the industry as viscose rayon.[2] Although not sold under the name art silk initially, nylon, the first synthetic fiber, was developed in the United States in the late 1930s and used as a replacement for Japanese silk during World War II.