Machined fibers in various metals and alloys Depending on the alloy, the metallic fibers provide properties to the yarn which allow the use in more high tech applications.

More recently stainless steel has become the dominant metal for metallic fibers. In the past, aluminium was often the base in a metallic fiber. With a wide range of applications, it is a mature sector. Metal fibers are now widely produced and used in all kinds of technology. Their first large scale production facility, located in the US, was brought on stream in 1966. By 1964 Brunswick was producing fine metal fibers as small as 1 μm from 304 type stainless steel. They started producing metallic filaments in a laboratory-scale pilot plant. conducted a research program to develop an economically viable process for forming metallic filaments. The Dobeckmum Company produced the first modern metallic fiber in 1946. Weaving also flourished in the 12th Century during the legacy of Genghis Khan when art and trade flourished under Mongol rule in China and some Middle Eastern areas.

They have been woven on Byzantine looms from the 7th to 9th Centuries, and after that in Sicily, Cyprus, Lucca, and Venice. Ancient textiles and clothing woven from wholly or partly gold threads is sometimes referred to as cloth of gold.

Historically, the metallic thread was constructed by wrapping a metal strip around a fiber core (cotton or silk), often in such a way as to reveal the color of the fiber core to enhance visual quality of the decoration. Many of these elegant textiles can be found in museums around the world. Gold and silver have been used since ancient times as decoration in the clothing and textiles of kings, leaders, nobility and people of status.

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