Apparel, Clothing & Garment Fabrics – find manufacturers and suppliers

Apparel fabrics

Clothing fabrics can be made of cotton and other natural fibres, as well as synthetic fibres or a mixture of both types of fibres. In many countries of the world these are still handmade. In the western countries, however, machine manufacturing predominates.

Short goods were understood to be all materials that were necessary to produce a garment. This included twine, needle, scissors, tape, etc. Fabrics were often sold as yard goods. The required quantity was simply cut from a large bale. Today this is mostly done by machines. The measurements are entered by computer and forwarded to the respective cutting machine.

The respective fabric is cut from huge bales of fabric, transported to the cutting machine and cut into shape. The industrial production, but also designers and fashion houses buy the raw material "fabric" in wholesale. The fabric wholesale offers a huge selection of high quality fabrics. Wholesalers supply designer fabrics, cotton fabrics, decorative fabrics, fashion fabrics to the whole world.

What is the difference between apparel fabrics, fashion fabrics and decorative fabrics?

Apparel fabrics must be durable and suitable for everyday use. Decorative fabrics are mainly used for visual appeal. Fashion fabrics are fabrics that are in vogue.

What types of fabrics are there?

The choice of fabric depends on the intended use. For outdoor jackets, the fabrics must be breathable, water-repellent and durable.

For evening dresses the fabrics must be visually appealing, flowing and comfortable to wear. Silk fabrics, chiffon, etc. are ideal for festive clothing.

Cotton fabrics are breathable, soft and pleasant on the skin. However, it dries more slowly than other materials. They are therefore particularly suitable for sportswear and underwear.

Trouser fabrics should above all be hard-wearing and durable. Linen fabric was already used for clothing by the ancient Egyptians. Linen is made from plant fibres. This fabric is very absorbent and feels cool in summer. However, linen creases very easily. Synthetic fibres are usually cheaper than natural fibres.

Wool is one of the oldest materials used to make clothing (China). Wool fabrics are characterized by their pleasant wearing comfort and storage of heat. The softer the wool, the better the quality. Cashmere wool as well as merino wool are very high quality wool types and are often processed into noble fabrics. Treatments with steam prevent the shrinkage of wool fabrics. Wool fabrics should not be washed in the washing machine as they will become felted. However, chemical treatments can prevent this.

Over the millennia, new processes have been developed again and again to treat wool as a raw material for clothing. The result was fabrics such as fine flannel, felt, loden, tweed or bouclé.

Silk has been known from China for about 5000 years. Clothes made of silk keep cool in summer and pleasantly warm in winter. The silk of the bred mulberry moth is of higher quality, because the caterpillar is killed before it hatches. This way the thread is not cut. All silk fabrics must be fed, otherwise they will crease. Silk is very delicate but comfortable to wear.

Synthetic fibres are made from wood (cellulose) and are chemically treated.

Nowadays, most everyday clothes are made of mixed fabrics. Cotton linen is a mixture of two natural fibres. Thus the positive properties of both types of fabric are used. The quality of the fabrics depends on the length of the fibres. The longer the fibres, the finer the fabric and the higher the quality.