Leather
"Genuine leather" sounds like the good stuff, but in the industry's grading it sits well below full-grain.
Wool
A wool sweater can soak up nearly a third of its own weight in moisture before it even starts to feel damp.
Synthetic Fibers
Cotton lost its crown in the early 2000s: the world's most widely produced fiber is now polyester, made by chemistry, not farming.
Sustainable Fabrics
Even recycled polyester sheds microplastics in the wash, one reason sustainable fabrics come down to trade-offs.
Denim
Denim began as tough workwear for laborers and miners, then somehow ended up in nearly everyone's closet.
Silk
An entire ancient trade network stretching from China to the Mediterranean was named directly after a single fabric — that's how valuable silk once was.