Cotton fabric is used for garments, dresses, pants, shirts baby clothing and anything else that needs a soft touch and that will last a long time. Cotton is not effective against insects it actually attracts them, but cotton grew in spite of that development.
Cotton is also recyclable which is good for the environment, it can be used to knit or wove fabrics together as the middle man, cotton is also used in fishing nets, coffee filters tents and even explosives. Egyptian cotton is a higher and better form of cotton but most materials that state they have Egyptian cotton have little amounts of real Egyptian cotton. Cotton has been the largest and most profitable trade since the beginning of time, the United States has sold over 4.9 billion in cotton and has many industries that are cotton based. China is now the largest cotton producing country, and the United States is the main exporter of cotton (more informations on wikipedia).
The British East India Company made cotton processing and works to help stimulate their economy, they genetically modified cotton to reduce the use of pesticides in the cotton. Denim jeans are the major use for cotton in fashion and they use a lot of water to harvest cotton, cotton is a product that the world has been using and will remain a key component for many things.