Abstract
The effervescence in the textile industry dates back to the end of the 19th century. In that time researchers started looking to overstep nature by creating artificial fibers. The first one was created by Joseph Swann and is called artificial silk. Following this evolution a fierce struggle then began, and led to the first real artificial textile industry.
After World War II, the "Trente Glorieuses" were the golden age of chemistry in industrialized European countries. Then, this period signed the beginning of a new era with the resources optimization in the textile sector, followed by constantly changing technologies.
Thus, the ambition of this paper is to underline the main the main characteristics of the European textile industry as follows: the threat of foreign new entrants (China), the perspective in terms of research and development and innovation, and the growing environmental dimension of the sector
In a first part we will see the characteristics of the European textile industry, and then we will show the possible evolutions and perspectives of the sector.
