Irene Emery (1900–1981) was an American art historian, scholar, curator, textile anthropologist, sculptor, and modern dancer. She was known for her pioneering research in systematically describing global textiles, and was a leading authority on ancient fabrics and textiles, and for her published book The Primary Structures of Fabrics: An Illustrated Classification (1966). Emery had worked at the Textile Museum from 1954 until 1970. Additionally she had worked as a sculptor for the Federal Art Project, and was a modern dancer in Martha Graham Dance Company.