Cotton weaving is the heart and soul of Indian textiles, having been the staple of the fabrics over seven millenia. The traditional cotton weave, the Khadi was woven using handspun yarn. The resulting fabric is somewhat coarse but the soft twist imparted by the hand in the manufacture of the yarn served the purpose of imparting the textile properties of protection from the heat, moisture absorbancy, and good ventillation.
With the virtual destruction of the local fabric industry by the colonials, it took the genius of Mahathma Gandhi to fashion spinning on the chakra as the weapon of choice to campaign against and crack the mighty colonial edifice. The cloth that was produced was of a coarser variety (than the machine produced British product), but one that none-the-less became the overnight fashion of nationalistic millions across India.
Khadi remains today, a choice fabric for garment that is symbollic and chic.
Much effort has been made to introduce it into mainstream fashion and
significant successes have been reported.