Fabrics & Fibres: Fashion Glossary
Fibres, yarns, woven and knitted cloths, leathers.
A
- AcetateAcetate is a manufactured fibre made from cellulose acetate, a compound produced by treating plant cellulose from wood pulp or cotton linters with acetic acid and acetic anhydride.
- AcrylicAcrylic is a synthetic fibre spun from polyacrylonitrile and legally defined, in both the US and the EU, as containing at least 85 per cent acrylonitrile units.
- Ankara FabricAnkara fabric is a cotton cloth printed on both faces with a wax resist, a factory method developed in Europe in the 19th century to imitate Javanese batik.
B
- Bamboo FabricBamboo fabric is a textile made from the bamboo plant, most often as regenerated cellulose: bamboo pulp dissolved with chemicals and spun into viscose, modal or lyocell fibre.
- BatisteBatiste is a fine, lightweight plain-weave fabric, soft and slightly sheer, woven today mostly from cotton or cotton blends and originally from linen.
- BoucléBouclé is a fancy yarn, and the woven or knitted cloth made from it, in which one ply is fed in loosely so that it forms loops at intervals along a twisted core.
- BroadclothBroadcloth is a closely woven cloth whose name covers two different fabrics: a dense, fulled and napped woollen cloth made in Europe since the Middle Ages, and a fine plain-weave shirting with a faint crosswise rib, usually cotton.
- BrocadeBrocade is a woven fabric with a raised, often multicoloured pattern added during weaving by supplementary weft threads, which float on the back wherever the design does not need them.
- BurlapBurlap is a coarse, heavy plain-woven fabric, usually made of jute or hemp, used mainly for sacks, wrapping and upholstery.
C
- Calico FabricCalico is a plain-weave cotton cloth named after Calicut, now Kozhikode, on India’s Malabar Coast.
- CanvasCanvas is a heavy, strong plain-weave fabric, usually of cotton, linen or hemp and typically woven from plied yarns.
- CashmereCashmere is a natural animal fibre taken from the soft undercoat of the cashmere goat and separated from the coarse outer hair before spinning.
- ChambrayChambray is a lightweight plain-weave fabric with a coloured warp and a white weft, typically made of cotton and traditionally light blue.
- ChamoisChamois is a soft, highly absorbent leather made from the flesh split of sheepskin or lambskin, or from skins with the grain removed, tanned by oxidising marine oils in the skin.
- Chantilly LaceChantilly lace is a fine bobbin lace, or a machine-made imitation of it, with a hexagonal net ground and floral designs worked in half stitch and outlined with a thick, flat thread called a gimp.
- CharmeuseCharmeuse is a lightweight satin-weave fabric with a lustrous face and a dull back, known for its soft, fluid drape.
- ChiffonChiffon is a lightweight, sheer fabric woven in a plain weave from finely twisted yarns, usually silk or a synthetic fibre.
- Chintz FabricChintz is a plain-weave cotton cloth usually printed with colourful patterns, most often flowers, and often finished with a glazed, shiny face.
- CorduroyCorduroy is a durable woven fabric, usually cotton, whose face is covered in parallel rounded ribs called wales, formed by cutting extra filling yarns into tufts of pile.
- CottonCotton is a natural plant fibre that grows in the seed bolls of the cotton plant (Gossypium) and is spun into yarn for woven and knitted cloth.
- CrêpeCrêpe is a fabric with a crinkled, grainy or pebbled surface, usually produced by weaving with hard-twisted yarns, by a crepe weave, or by chemical or embossed finishing.
D
- DamaskDamask is a woven fabric whose flat, reversible pattern is formed by contrasting weave structures, with lustrous satin areas set against duller plain or taffeta-weave areas.
- Deadstock FabricDeadstock fabric is unused cloth left over from a mill’s or brand’s stock that was never put to its intended use and is sold on to other makers.
- DenimDenim is a durable twill fabric, usually all cotton, woven with a coloured warp and a white weft, the warp usually blue and traditionally dyed with indigo.
- Down (Feathers)Down is the soft undercoating of ducks and geese, made of clusters of light, fluffy filaments that grow beneath the outer feathers and trap air for insulation.
E
- Econyl FabricEconyl is a trademarked regenerated nylon 6 made by the Italian company Aquafil from waste such as fishing nets, old carpets and textile scraps, which it chemically breaks down and rebuilds into new polymer.
F
- Faux FurFaux fur is a pile fabric made to imitate animal fur, with its fibres anchored in a textile base rather than growing from a skin.
- Faux LeatherFaux leather is a man-made material designed to imitate leather, typically a fabric coated with polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and embossed with a grain.
- FeltFelt is a non-woven textile made by matting loose fibres together with heat, moisture and friction instead of weaving or knitting them.
- FlannelFlannel is a soft woven fabric, in plain or twill weave, whose surface is napped, or brushed up into a fuzz, on one or both sides.
- FleeceFleece is a soft, warm knitted fabric whose surface is napped into a dense, furry pile, and synthetic fleece is labelled by its fibre, such as polyester, rather than as “fleece”.
- French TerryFrench terry is a knitted fabric with a smooth jersey face and a back of uncut loops, made with two yarns and left unbrushed.
G
- GabardineGabardine is a tightly woven twill fabric with fine, distinct diagonal cords on its face and the weft hidden at the back, made from worsted wool, cotton, silk, rayon, polyester or blends.
- GeorgetteGeorgette is a sheer crêpe fabric woven from hard-twisted yarns of alternating S and Z twist, which give it a dull, grainy surface.
- Guipure LaceGuipure lace is a heavy, large-patterned lace with no net or mesh ground, its motifs held together by bars, bridges or plaits instead.
H
- Harris TweedHarris Tweed is a tweed protected by UK law, defined by the Harris Tweed Act 1993 as cloth handwoven by islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides, finished there, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun there.
- Heathered FabricHeathered fabric is a knitted or woven cloth made from yarn spun from fibres of different colours, which gives it a softly flecked or mottled look rather than a flat, solid shade.
- HempHemp is a strong, lustrous bast fibre taken from the stems of the Cannabis sativa plant, and the yarn and cloth made from it.
J
- JacquardJacquard is a patterning mechanism fitted to a loom that controls warp threads individually, originally programmed by punched cards; the name also covers the intricately patterned fabrics woven with it.
- Jersey FabricJersey is a plain knitted fabric made with the knit stitch in every course, giving a face of vertical loop columns and a back of horizontal loop rows.
K
- Kente ClothKente is a handwoven cloth from the Asante and Ewe weaving traditions of Ghana and Togo, made of narrow strips patterned on the loom and sewn edge to edge.
- Khadi FabricKhadi is a cloth hand-woven in India from yarn hand-spun in India, using cotton, silk, wool or a mixture of them.
L
- LaceLace is an ornamental openwork fabric formed by looping, interlacing, plaiting or twisting threads, so that the pattern is made of thread and open space.
- LaméLamé is a fabric woven with metallic filling (weft) threads, so that strips of metal or metallised film give the cloth a bright, reflective surface.
- LeatherLeather is an animal hide or skin that has been tanned so it no longer rots while keeping its natural fibrous structure.
- LinenLinen is a fabric woven from flax, the bast fibre taken from the stem of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum.
- Lycra (Spandex)Lycra is a trade name for spandex, a synthetic elastic fibre made of at least 85 per cent segmented polyurethane that stretches to several times its length and springs back.
- Lyocell (Tencel)Lyocell is a regenerated cellulose fibre made by dissolving cellulose pulp in an organic solvent and spinning the solution into fibre without forming a chemical derivative of the cellulose.
M
- ModalModal is a regenerated cellulose fibre made from wood pulp by a modified viscose process that gives it high strength and a high wet modulus, so it resists stretching and shrinking when wet.
- MohairMohair is a natural animal fibre: the lustrous hair of the Angora goat, spun into yarn for suiting, knitwear, coatings and scarves.
- MoleskinMoleskin is a heavy, densely woven cotton fabric with one face brushed into a short, velvety nap that looks like suede or a mole’s fur.
- MuslinMuslin is a plain-woven cotton cloth made in many weights, from sheer and fine to coarse and heavy.
N
O
- Organic CottonOrganic cotton is cotton fibre grown on certified farmland without genetically engineered seed and without synthetic pesticides or fertilisers beyond those on a permitted list.
- OrganzaOrganza is a sheer, stiff, plain-weave fabric with a crisp finish, made from silk or from rayon, nylon, acrylic or polyester.
- Oxford ClothOxford cloth is a soft, durable shirting fabric of cotton or a polyester-cotton blend, woven in a 2 × 1 basket weave in which pairs of warp yarns work as one, usually over a thicker weft.
P
- Patent LeatherPatent leather is leather finished with a hard, high-gloss coating built up in several thin layers, historically linseed-oil varnish and today mostly polyurethane.
- Piña FabricPiña is a sheer, lightweight cloth handwoven in the Philippines from fine pineapple-leaf fibres that are scraped out by hand and knotted end to end into a continuous thread.
- PolyesterPolyester is a synthetic fibre spun from a long-chain polymer joined by ester links, of which the most important is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the plastic also moulded into drinks bottles.
- PoplinPoplin is a strong plain-weave fabric with fine, closely spaced ribs running across the cloth, made by crossing a greater number of warp yarns with heavier weft yarns.
R
- Raw DenimRaw denim is denim made into garments and sold without any wash, so the cloth keeps its warp size, stiffness and full indigo shade until the wearer first washes it.
- Rayon (Viscose)Rayon is a manufactured fibre made by dissolving plant cellulose, such as wood pulp, and regenerating it as fibre.
- Recycled PolyesterRecycled polyester is a synthetic fibre made by melting down or chemically breaking down used polyethylene terephthalate (PET), mostly plastic bottles, and spinning it into new polyester fibre.
- Rib KnitRib knit is a double-knit fabric in which columns of loops alternate between the face and the back, forming lengthwise ribs that look the same on both sides.
S
- SateenSateen is a smooth, lustrous fabric woven in the satin structure, usually from cotton, with a glossy face and a dull back.
- SatinSatin is a woven fabric made in the satin weave, one of the three basic weaves, in which warp yarns float over several weft yarns between sparse interlacings to give a smooth, usually lustrous face and dull back.
- SeersuckerSeersucker is a lightweight plain-weave fabric with lengthwise stripes that alternate between puckered and flat, made by weaving some warp threads looser than others.
- Selvedge DenimSelvedge denim is denim woven on a shuttle loom, which leaves each edge of the cloth finished so it does not unravel.
- SilkSilk is a natural protein fibre unwound or spun from the cocoons of silk-producing caterpillars, above all the domesticated mulberry silkworm, Bombyx mori.
- SuedeSuede is leather finished with a soft, velvet-like nap, raised by buffing the flesh side of a skin or the split side of a flesh split.
T
- TaffetaTaffeta is a crisp, plain-woven fabric, often with a lustrous surface, and a fine rib running across the cloth.
- TerryclothTerrycloth is a pile fabric covered in small uncut loops, formed by an extra set of warp yarns woven into a ground cloth on one or both sides.
- TulleTulle is a fine, lightweight net fabric with a six-sided (hexagonal) mesh, made by machine from silk, nylon, rayon, acetate or cotton and often stiffened.
- TweedTweed is a medium-to-heavy woollen cloth with a rough surface, usually woven in a variation of twill from yarn dyed before weaving, which gives its flecked, marled and heathered colour effects.
- TwillTwill is one of the three basic textile weaves, in which threads float over two or more crossing threads and each row’s interlacing steps one thread along, forming parallel diagonal ribs.
V
- Vegan LeatherVegan leather is a leather-look material made without animal-derived inputs, such as a fabric coated with polyurethane or PVC, or a sheet made from plant or fungal matter.
- VelourVelour is a fabric with a short, thick pile that resembles velvet and can be knitted, woven or felted.
- VelvetVelvet is a woven fabric with a short, dense pile of clipped yarns on one face and a smooth back that shows the base weave.
- Vicuña WoolVicuña wool is a natural animal fibre: the fine, lustrous undercoat of the vicuña, a wild camelid of the Andes considered the ancestor of the alpaca.
- Vinyl (PVC)Vinyl (PVC) is polyvinyl chloride, a moisture-resistant plastic used in fashion as a film or as a coating on a woven or knitted textile backing.
W
- WoolWool is a natural protein fibre that forms the fleece of sheep and, more broadly, the coat of some other hairy mammals such as goats and camels.