Textile art, or as Anni Albers said, “the poetry of materials,” has had many lives.

In the 40s, we loved fabric. 24 foot stage curtains. Men’s trousers up to their stomachs. Women dripping in silk, satin, taffeta.

“Some styles used up to fifteen yards of fabric,” writes Karina Reddy of the 40s, a fashion writer who manages the Fashion History Timeline on the Fashion Institute’s web site.

During a time of rationing, the surplus of fabric sparked civil unrest in Los Angeles in June 1943. Alice Gregory of Smithsonian Magazine wrote, “For over a week, white U.S. soldiers and sailors traversed Los Angeles beating up allegedly ‘unpatriotic’ Mexican-American men, identifiable by their conspicuously voluminous attire.”

The 60s saw textiles discussed as “art” in itself more, pioneered by women like Annie Albers and Sheila Hicks who moved beyond traditional notions during a time of significant experimentation across various art forms.

“Along...