Historically, the fashion industry has always been based on the textile industry. Paris became the centre of high-end custom fashion partly thanks to its silk manufacturing history. Later, in the 19th century, people began to look for a synthetic material that could replace natural raw materials, mainly a durable and cheap "artificial silk".

In 1884, Count Chardon net, a Frenchman, made the first rayon yarn by spinning it in a solution of nitrocellulose and applied for a patent. Despite the complexity of the process, which can lead to terrible explosions, fabrics made from these silk-like threads appeared at the 1926 London Artificial Silk Exhibition. By 1938, Du Pont began to produce nylon in commercial batches. In 1940, consumers could buy the first batch of nylon socks. By 1966, one third of the fabrics were synthetic. They are no longer a substitute for luxury goods, but a synonym for cheap goods. In the late 1960s, American scientists invented a fabric called Kevlar, an artificial organic bullet-proof fiber (still used in bullet-proof vest today). It has high strength, cutting resistance and chemical resistance (including fire and water). It has been widely used in professional cycling equipment, such as jeans and jackets.

Mixed engineering textiles are a mixture of textiles and some non-textiles, which may fuse glass, metal, carbon and ceramics. Alexander McQueen's 1996 Spring and Summer Series uses an artificial fabric sprayed with stainless steel. In the finishing process, thermal devices are used to provide protective coatings for some fabrics, such as Tyvek. Designer Hussein Chalayan uses a non-woven industrial fabric that looks like artificial paper and is washable, durable and chemically resistant. Jean-Paul Gaultier used reactive dyes in his 1996 spring and summer series to impress computer-made patterns on fabrics, producing impressive results. Chemical reactive dyes can produce unprecedented vigorous printing patterns, and the details are more exquisite. A Japanese company called OMI Kenshi has developed a new type of viscose yarn named crabyon. It is made of crab shell. When it is mixed with cotton, it can kill bacteria. The success rate is 90%.

Recently, the Center for Innovation at the Central St. Martin School of Art and Design is working on the possibility of multi-sensory design to produce sensitive clothing that can change with mood. Especially for the study of the influence of "aromatics": by adding fragrance to the fabric to enhance a person's sense of health and emotional stability. In addition, "smart" fabrics also include a PCM (phase change material) fabric that absorbs heat energy by changing from solid to liquid, and releases heat energy when they recover from liquid to solid. It can play a temporary cooling or heating role on the coat, thus making the wearer feel comfortable. There is also a TCM hot chromium material, which can sense the change of environmental temperature and change the color of the fabric to adapt to the external climate.