The textile industry is one of the oldest in the world, dating back thousands ...
The textile industry is one of the oldest in the world, dating back thousands of years, even to the Neolithic period, when plant fibers such as flax were already being used. With the emergence of animal husbandry, man began to use the natural sheep's coat by gathering it into a bundle of fibers wrapped on a backing.
Spinning still today consists of creating yarn from a mass of textile fiber to which the steps of carding, combing the fibers, stretching the coarser or less coarse fibrous mass, twisting by means of a rotation, and winding the finished product onto a gathering support are applied in successive stages of processing.
It was with the Romans that weaving changed from a small family operation to an organized activity in specialized workshops, in which slaves worked on looms for wool and linen.
Pompeii and Herculaneum were famous for the production of fine textiles such as silk and cotton, while in Rome wool processing flourished.
With the end of the Roman Empire, weaving lost its predominant function. Then finally during the Norman period in Palermo the royal manufactory of noble workshops began processing silk and precious fabrics with gold and gems. In the mid-12th century the Confraternity of the Humiliati, starting in Milan, spread wool production in its convents to northern Italy.
In the Renaissance Florence established itself as a center of import and export of weaving artifacts.
In the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the San Leucio silk factories near Naples represent one of the most important examples of industrial-type textile manufacturing
It is not until the 17th century, however, for textiles to begin to become strategic in industry
In 1733 John Kay patented the flying bobbin, devised by Leonardo da Vinci, and in 1738 Lewis Paul patented the draw roller, the original inventor of roller spinning, the basis of the water structure for spinning cotton in a cotton mill. Wyatt built the model of a machine for Paul, who obtained a patent for it on June 24, 1738. In 1741 he installed a machine operated by two donkeys in Birmingham's Upper Priory, near his home in Old Square.
In 1742 publisher Edwrd Cave, Lewis Paul's uncle, bought Marvel's Mill on the Nene River in Northampton and rebuilt the mill to contain four or five water-powered spinning wheels, each with 50 spindles. This was thus the first cotton mill that was inherited by Paul shortly before his death. Another mill operating under Paul's patent was in Leominster. In 1764 James Hargreaves or Thomas Highs invented the spinning jenny, multi-spindle spinning machine, and from there on it was a succession in the industry of new inventions and patents that led to enormous and flourishing industrial development. In 1816 Francis Cabot Lowell built the first mechanized loom in the United States, while the late 1800s saw the invention of the first artificial fiber, viscose, and in 1953 the first commercial production of polyester fiber.
In Italy, weaving developed in small towns and in the countryside until the mid-19th century, with medium-low processing due to the use of unskilled and cheap female and child labor, which used machinery that was still limited in the production stage. Workshops were located near rivers so that they could take advantage of the energy produced by water.
The Italian textile industry developed mainly in the north in the Altomilanese, Biella, Bergamo, and upper Vicenza areas. The Como area specialized in silk production and the Mantua area in that of women's stockings and pantyhose. In central Italy, the Prato area became the most developed industrial district in terms of number of companies and employees.
China and India boosted their production, and China is the only country that breeds silkworms sector in which it now has a monopoly.
But the production of increasingly sophisticated and innovative textiles has created environmental problems due to pollution caused by chemicals in production processes. Environmental sustainability issue that has entered the global 2030 agenda and must find a solution by 2050.
Fast fashion (literally 'fast fashion'), which allows constant availability of new styles at very low prices, has led to a sharp increase in the amount of clothing produced, used and then discarded.
To address the impact this has on the environment, the EU intends to reduce textile waste by increasing the life cycle and recycling of textiles as part of its plan to achieve a circular economy by 2050.
New strategies to address the issue include developing new business models for clothing rental, designing products made in such a way that reuse and recycling are easier (circular fashion), raising consumer awareness to buy fewer garments of better quality (sustainable fashion), and generally steering consumer behavior toward more sustainable options.
From a production point of view, chemical and toxic agents will have to be absent, and this will certainly have considerable influence on new textile production, which will have to comply with European and global regulations.
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