Since the existence of fashion and the materials used in the fashion industry, such as fabric, the textile industry and its products have undergone various changes when it comes to the taste in different epochs and cultures. In general, fashion has always been an expression for the wearer’s status or the sign of a wearer’s social class.

 

The history of the oldest known textiles, very early weavings of linen, can be traced back to old Egypt times to the year 4500 BC. Archaeologists, who were active in Egypt, have found reels which are indicators for the existence of yarns. Fashion in ancient Roman times was characterised by its cascading, loose-fitting style. The best-known piece of clothes is certainly the tunic, which was especially worn by the bourgeois. Usually, one wore a kind of linen shirt underneath.

 

In times of romanticism, strict dress codes and rules were quite common. Precious fabrics such as velvet, silk or brocade were mainly reserved for the royal society. The same applied for furs, especially when it came to ermine which was dedicated to kings and emperors. Farmers’ clothing, on the other hand, was dominated by cheaper fabrics such as wool, linen, cotton and flax.

 

In the Middle Ages, Great Britain, France, Italy and the Netherlands as well as Germany were the main manufacturers of textiles. In Germany, the most important regions of textile production were North-Rhine Westphalia, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria and Saxony.

 

In general, fabric is kind of a woven or knitted product made of textile fibres, which is in the end used for the manufacture of clothes, for example denim fabric and cotton fabric. Today, the bandwidth of fabrics and materials is almost unlimited. Fibers made of plants and animals are known as natural fibers. The most commonly material to manufacture clothes is still sheep wool. Besides natural materials such as wool, leather, cotton or silk, which is produced exclusively by a special kind of butterflies, there is also a great range of artificial synthetic materials, such as microfiber, nylon, jersey or fleece fabric, made of chemical fibres.

 

Do you own a fabric store, are you a wholesaler for outdoor fabric or are you active in the international curtain fabric wholesale? Are you looking for a comprehensive overview on worldwide fabric and clothing manufacturers, fabric suppliers or other wholesalers in the textile industry, use this B2B textiles and leather directory as it offers an extensive database for information gathering and opens up opportunities.