Corfam was the first poromeric imitation leather, invented by Lee Hollowell , and introduced by DuPont in 1963 at the Chicago Shoe Show . Corfam was the centerpiece of the DuPont pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair in New York City. Its major advantages over natural leather were its durability and its high gloss finish that could be easily cleaned with a damp cloth. Its disadvantages were its stiffness which did not lessen with wearing and its relative lack of breathability. DuPont manufactured Corfam at its plant in Old Hickory, Tennessee from 1964 to 1971. After spending millions of dollars marketing the product to shoe manufacturers, DuPont withdrew Corfam from the market in 1971 and sold the rights to a company in Poland. Corfam is mainly remembered as a textbook marketing disaster.