Some textiles are with us for thousands of years. We use them for different purposes, improve them and make them more attractive. Some are fashionable, some fall out of fashion, some come back. Some are just useful which is also important. History of textiles is entangled as they themselves are.
Textile was a next step in clothing of human race after the leather. First textiles were crude and simple but in time technology advanced and textiles become more beautiful and comfortable for wearing.
The technique of making felt by rolling, beating and pressing animal hair or wool into a compact mass of even consistency is older than spinning and weaving. It is not know who or how invented the felt but there is evidence that this craft is very old.
Cotton is part of human history for 7000 years. Today is practically irreplaceable material for clothing but in time it shaped history of many counties and peoples as it does now.
Held as a greatest secret under the threat of death penalty, manufacturing of silk was monopoly of China. But nothing can stay secret for ever and in time other countries found out how to farm silkworms and get silk from them.
Wool is a material for textile that is used since the earliest days of human civilization. It is very good heat isolator so it was used in very cold and in very hot climates. Today is partly replaced by synthetics but it still has its place in many roles.
Linen is one of the earliest textile products known to civilization. It was highly regarded from the times of the earliest civilizations until today for its quality and beauty. Read about history of linen here.