Skiers, skaters, and other winter athletes run an increased risk of lung and bronchial infections when training in cold weather. Stoll, a German manufacturer of knitting machinery, worked together with academic and industry partners to incorporate smart textile technology in this balaclava. A mesh panel over the mouth and nose is knitted with copper wire...

Saddle blankets — placed under the saddle to protect the horse from chafing and pressure from the saddle — continued to be used by the Navajo long after handwoven garments became impractical. By the 1950s, when this blanket was woven, the dramatic shoulder blankets for which the Navajo are famous were made far more frequently...

Prestige robes with flowing, wide sleeves and elaborate embroidery were worn by aristocratic Fulani, Hausa, and Nupe men. Their use is primarily associated with the 19th-century Sokoto Caliphate, centered in northern Nigeria, and their distribution is to key Islamic trade routes throughout the region. Their lavish use of costly hand-woven silk proclaimed the wearer’s wealth...

This wool cap, probably intended for a man, was made in the first half of the 20th century by the indigenous inhabitants of Morocco, the Amazigh people (also called the Berbers), who make up 40-60 percent of the population and have a language and culture distinct from Arabs. Amazigh textiles were mainly produced by women,...

This fabric, printed in Manchester, England for the African market, has a design which imitates the embroidered gowns worn by Hausa men in Nigera. The design of the embroideries is believed to have been influenced by men who learned the art of calligraphy from studying the Qur’an, and reflect an identification with Islam. They are...

Matchsafes came into being when wooden friction matches were invented in the middle of the nineteenth century, and were widely used until the 1930s, when safety matches, matchbooks, and gas-powered lighters became more popular. Early friction matches were somewhat unreliable, highly combustible and could light spontaneously in a pocket. In order to protect them from moisture and...

This band of tapestry weave features hunter iconography, a popular textile design in Egypt during the late Roman (third-fourth century C.E.) and Byzantine (fourth-sixth century C.E.) periods. Hunter motifs were popular for funerary use because, in the triumph over his prey, the hunter suggested that its wearer would similarly triumph over death. Hunter imagery could...

Design writer Bruce Nussbaum delivered a speech at Parsons a few weeks ago whose controversial refrain was “designers suck.” Read the speech on his Business Week blog. Nussbaum claims that designers are slow to embrace the democratization of design. They still want to keep the “sandbox” to themselves, rather than inviting their clients, users, and...