A yarn with short fibers projecting around its core, or a soft, pile-textured fabric made with it.
Chenille is a yarn with a pile standing out on all sides of its core; the name is French for caterpillar. Traditionally it was made by weaving a cloth with its warp ends set in spaced groups and a much thicker weft, then cutting the cloth lengthwise between the groups into long tufted strips that serve as yarn. CottonWorks notes that most chenille yarn is now made on special winding machines. Fabric made with the yarn, or resembling it, takes the name too.
The SILKNOW silk thesaurus lists chenille as the weft of bedspreads, rugs and heavy drapery fabrics, and in fringes and tassels; it is also used in embroidery. A chenille fabric can look like velvet, but chenille’s pile is carried in the yarn, whereas velvet’s is woven into the cloth from a supplementary warp raised in loops during weaving.
In job listings
Chenille is rarely named in luxury listings. Its nearest roles are in textile design and development, which calls for knowledge of woven and knitted fabrics, jacquard, cut-pile fabrics and tufting, and for tracking new designs through development with suppliers. See current textile design roles.
