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Synopsis India is home to almost all of the world's most important natural fibres. The availability of these raw materials has enabled the creation of a vast variety of products, woven domestically, on handlooms or on industrial powerlooms encompassing a seemingly endless array of uses, designs and decorations. Amongst these four fibres jute has, until now, remained the poor relation. While silk, cotton and wool adorned ceremonies, furnishings or fashion parades, jute seemed condemned eternally to its use as humble sacking, for packaging or temporary covering on construction sites. The book traces the history of jute from its earliest use thousands of years ago to its current status as a favourite fabric for upmarket home furnishings and a potential fabric in the international world of fashion.