Acrylic fibers are synthetic fibers made from a polymer (polyacrylonitrile)synthetic fiberspolyacrylonitrile DuPont created the first acrylic fibers in 1941 and trademarked them under the name Orlon. Acrylic is also called acrilan fabric. As it resembles silk, it is also called artificial silk.DuPont It is manufactured as a filament, then cut into short staple lengths similar to wool hairs, and spun into yarn.