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bias contributors Alun Callender Trade tariffs, which raise the price of imported goods to protect domestic industries, have dominated headlines throughout 2025. Yet this economic strategy is nothing new. In the late Middle Ages, English monarchs Edward III and Henry VII imposed high export tariffs on raw wool to discourage its sale to Flemish weavers. Centuries later, during the Industrial Revolution, Britain levied steep duties on imported Indian cottons to protect its developing textile industry. Trade and textiles have always been intertwined. In this issue, we explore the East-West exchanges that have shaped material culture for centuries. From the early modern period, long-distance maritime trade by South Asian and Middle Eastern dhows (ships with a long, thin body and slanted triangular sails) created a dynamic network linking peoples, cultures, and civilisations from Southeast Asia to the eastern coast of Africa. Sea routes remain vital today: around 90 percent of global trade still moves across the oceans, connecting continents and driving the world economy. Modern container ships contrast sharply with the once-celebrated tea clipper Cutty Sark, whose cargo of tea and wool sailed under billowing linen canvases hoisted on jute ropes. The intricate rigging of these ships was recorded by sailors in embroidered woollies, immortalising the maritime world with needle and thread. Cloth was central to the value carried in those cargoes. For millennia, textiles have functioned as both commodity and currency, carrying economic weight and cultural meaning. The histories of indigo and cotton trace the rise and fall of colonial economies, where trade, exploitation, and artistry were tightly interwoven. Yet Indian artisans, whose skill and ingenuity fuelled global demand, shaped these exchanges to their creating cloths for every market, from the fine muslins coveted in advantage Europe to the boldly patterned cottons traded along Africa's coast. From this rich interplay emerged distinctive textiles including the telia rumal in southern India and the kanga of East Africa each a testament to centuries of shared technique, taste, and trade. Today, these routes continue to carry more than goods. They transmit ideas, technologies, languages, and beliefs across continents. When approached with sensitivity and respect, such exchanges enrich rather than exploit. Designers like Uma Wang, who reinterprets the Bhutanese gho, and Mariana Silva Varela, whose woven works explore the enduring symbolism of gold, remind us that cross-cultural dialogue remains a fertile ground for creativity. As this year draws to a close, may I take this opportunity to wish all our readers health, prosperity, and happiness in 2026. Polly Leonard, Founder *Errata issue 127: We apologise that a section of text from page 33 was inadvertently duplicated on page 34. Please email support@selvedge.org to receive a correct PDF so you can enjoy the article as intended.
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issue 128: Routes We asked our contributors: The spice of life adds interest, excitment, and gives value to our lives. What textiles from distant shores provide the spice in your life? Niyati Hirani, p. 46 The embroidered and the printed, the colourful and the neutral, the coarse and the smooth. A checked khadi khes blanket, I grew up sleeping under every night. A humble gamcha (towel), quick to dry, with its whimsical block prints. A black-and-red Assamese shawl that becomes my winter companion. An ikat handkerchief from Odisha, a handwoven lungi simple, almost ordinary pieces that make life feel textured, surprising, and full of warmth. Liz Kueneke, p. 68 In the markets of Chimborazo, Ecuador, I found old ponchos and fragments of rough woollen cloth, worn thin and dotted with moth holes. My studio is brimming with textiles gathered on my travels, like this one, which I keep as visceral inspiration. I treasure both their imperfections and the memory of the people, animals, and landscape that shaped them. In a world increasingly marked by industrial textile homogenisation, these pieces remind me of the extraordinary diversity of human making. Scan the QR code to subscribe. selvedoe Cynthia Green, p. 58 I have always been fascinated by how cotton and linen transform from plants growing under sunshine and rain into pillars of economic systems and multisensory objects of personal importance. The power and importance of Indian cotton throughout the last 1,000 years of human history is a shining example of this. Artistic expression, agricultural prowess, technical skills, transportation, marketing, banking, and even international cultural expression evolved across the world through contact with Indian cotton.

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bias contributors

Alun Callender

Trade tariffs, which raise the price of imported goods to protect domestic industries, have dominated headlines throughout 2025. Yet this economic strategy is nothing new. In the late Middle Ages, English monarchs Edward III and Henry VII imposed high export tariffs on raw wool to discourage its sale to Flemish weavers. Centuries later, during the Industrial Revolution, Britain levied steep duties on imported Indian cottons to protect its developing textile industry.

Trade and textiles have always been intertwined. In this issue, we explore the East-West exchanges that have shaped material culture for centuries. From the early modern period, long-distance maritime trade by South Asian and Middle Eastern dhows (ships with a long, thin body and slanted triangular sails) created a dynamic network linking peoples, cultures, and civilisations from Southeast Asia to the eastern coast of Africa.

Sea routes remain vital today: around 90 percent of global trade still moves across the oceans, connecting continents and driving the world economy. Modern container ships contrast sharply with the once-celebrated tea clipper Cutty Sark, whose cargo of tea and wool sailed under billowing linen canvases hoisted on jute ropes. The intricate rigging of these ships was recorded by sailors in embroidered woollies, immortalising the maritime world with needle and thread.

Cloth was central to the value carried in those cargoes. For millennia, textiles have functioned as both commodity and currency, carrying economic weight and cultural meaning. The histories of indigo and cotton trace the rise and fall of colonial economies, where trade, exploitation, and artistry were tightly interwoven. Yet Indian artisans, whose skill and ingenuity fuelled global demand, shaped these exchanges to their advantage - creating cloths for every market, from the fine muslins coveted in Europe to the boldly patterned cottons traded along Africa's coast. From this rich interplay emerged distinctive textiles including the telia rumal in southern India and the kanga of East Africa - each a testament to centuries of shared technique, taste, and trade.

Today, these routes continue to carry more than goods. They transmit ideas, technologies, languages, and beliefs across continents. When approached with sensitivity and respect, such exchanges enrich rather than exploit. Designers like Uma Wang, who reinterprets the Bhutanese gho, and Mariana Silva Varela, whose woven works explore the enduring symbolism of gold, remind us that cross-cultural dialogue remains a fertile ground for creativity.

As this year draws to a close, may I take this opportunity to wish all our readers health, prosperity, and happiness in 2026.

Polly Leonard, Founder

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