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Chenille may refer to either a type of cored yarn or fabric made from it.
Chenille, the French word for caterpillar, is typically used to describe a type of yarn manufactured by piles (short lengths) wrapped around a tightly wound core. The yarn is commonly manufactured from cotton fabrics, but chenille can also describe acrylic, rayon and olefin fibers. The arrangement of the piles, extending at right angles from the yarn’s core gives the iridescent texture which the fabric is most commonly known for.
Though production of chenille-type yarns extends back to the 18th century, standards of industrial production were not introduced until the 1990s, marked by the formation of groups such as the Chenille International Manufacturers Association (CIMA - an organization formed with the mission to improve industrial manufacturing processes through education). In the 1930s chenille became widely desired as type of tufted fabric in carpets and bedspreads, though wasn’t popularized until commercialized production in the 1970s.
