Jacquard Fabric Continues to Link Art and Technology

For my Pleat Jacket, I used a beautiful cotton/spandex jacquard fabric from EOS Fabrics. I loved the colors and pattern, but I didn’t know much about this type of fabric, so I did a bit of research.

What is Jacquard Fabric?

Jacquard fabrics are fabrics that are woven on a jacquard loom, which was patented in 1804. They have intricate designs that are woven into the fabric through the manipulation of warp (vertical) and weft (horizontal) threads — the fabric designs are never printed.

Examples of jacquard fabrics. Image from here.

Before the jacquard loom was invented, woven fabrics with intricate designs were called brocade fabrics and were made on traditional looms. It is believed that brocade production began in China between 475 and 221 BC. By the 6th century AD, silk brocade fabrics were beginning to gain popularity in the west. Weaving these fabrics was a slow and labor-intensive process that required two people — a weaver and a draw boy. For every row of weaving, the weaver would call out to the draw boy to pull up specific colored threads so the weaver could create the design. Because of this, brocade fabrics were expensive and only available to the wealthy.

In 1804, the son of a master weaver named Joseph-Marie Jacquard patented the Jacquard Machine, which automated the process of weaving designs into fabric and thereby made patterned fabrics more affordable and broadly available.

Since then, fabrics made on jacquard looms, such as brocade, damask, matelasse, and tapestry, are considered to be types of jacquard fabrics.

Below is a very cool and informative video of how jacquard fabrics are woven.

Jacquard Weaving Inspired Modern Computing

The Jacquard Machine inspired Charles Babbage to develop the Analytical Engine, which is widely considered to be the first modern computer design. The Jacquard Machine used binary code — a punched hole or no punched hole — to instruct the loom to pick up a thread or not. Babbage theorized that similar punch cards made up of binary code could be used to instruct a machine to carry out specific instructions. Ada Lovelace built upon his work to conceptualize the ideas behind computer programming, but it would take another 100 years for their theories to be realized.

The Analytical Engine weaves algebraic patterns, just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves.

Ada Lovelace, mathematician (1843)

Jacquard Fabric Comes Full Circle

Today, jacquard weaving continues to be at the intersection of design and technology. New digital technologies allow designers to use computer software to create intricate jacquard patterns that are seamlessly translated into woven fabrics on computerized jacquard looms. This allows designs to be more intricate and gives designers more freedom to experiment.

Different fibers woven on jacquard looms to create smart textiles and wearable technologies signal the future of fabrics. It will be exciting to see the role jacquard looms play in fashion’s future!