The Industrial Revolution took place during the mid to late nineteenth century and saw significant social, technological, and economic progress. For the fashion industry, it began with advances in the mass production of textiles due to earlier innovations such as the steam-driven power loom of James Watts (1785), the cotton gin of Eli Whitney (1793), and the jacquard loom of Joseph Marie Jacquard (1804). However, it was the first foot-treadle sewing machine of Elias Howe (1846), and later the electric sewing machine of Isaac Merritt Singer (1889), that moved the fashion industry from handmade, home-based manufacturing to large-scale, factory-based production. During the reign of Queen Victoria, known as the Victorian Era, the Industrial Revolution was at its peak.
Historical Dictionary of the Fashion Industry. Francesca Sterlacci and Joanne Arbuckle.