Produced tediously on handlooms in the 19th century, the decisive invention in the production of velvets has been the doulbe fabric, face to face weaving with the pile ends interchanging from one fabric to the other, the two fabrics being maintained at a certain distance from each other. This principle is still used today for the production of the large majority of velvets. The advent of shuttleless velvet weaving looms with double weft insertion during the nineteen-sixties, the significant increase in the manufacturing precision of the mechanical parts of the looms and the much greater use of electronics have progressed considerably the weaving process.