The natural various organisms’ surfaces perform versatile superhydrophobic phenomena, such as lotus leaves, bird feathers, and insect wings. For revealing the superhydrophobic principle of solid surface, Thomas Young proposed the famous Young’s equation, which depicts the relationship between surface tension and contact angle existing on the interface of solid, liquid and gas, and reveals the equilibrium between solid phase and liquid phase without any special action on a uniform surface. From this, Wenzel model is derived to describe the droplet state on a solid rough surface. However, the Wenzel model is not suitable for more complicated practical conditions, so Cassie and Baxter further proposed the Cassie-Baxter model, and this model assumes that a large amount of air is trapped between the solid and liquid interfaces, and the water droplets do not penetrate the rough structural surface. However, the practical wetting state generally falls in between the Wenzel model and Cassie model, showing the rough surface of water-partially moistened material. Therefore, researchers proposed the Wenzel-Cassis model, and at this point the development achieved perfection performed on the wettability model of the superhydrophobic surface. Researchers have developed various intelligent and facile routes to prepare biomimetic superhydrophobic surfaces of fabrics, that is, superhydrophobic fabrics with a water contact angle more than 150° can be obtained with the help of a synergistic effect between a certain roughness and low surface energy. Superhydrophobic fabrics have high additional application value in the development of functional clothing fabrics and the treatment of industrial wastewater. What is worth mentioning is that traditional finishing ways to prepare superhydrophobic fabrics require strict conditions, the obtained superhydrophobic capability is not stable, and the preparation process performs a certain harm to the environment, thereby greatly inhibiting practical applications. For better grasping the exploration and research status of superhydrophobic fabrics, we summarized the current synthesis methods and functional characteristics of superhydrophobic fabrics, including sol-gel method, etching method, surface deposition method, solvent-non-solvent method and electrospinning method, synchronously reviewed both domestic and overseas research progress of superhydrophobic fabrics in recent years, and analyzed the value of constructing self-roughening system for developing functional superhydrophobic fabrics. Combined with metal oxide semiconductor materials, noble metal nanoparticles and other decoration strategies, we can obtain the rough structural surface of superhydrophobic fabrics with anti-fouling, anti-freezing, flame retardant, anti-ultraviolet, antibacterial and anticorrosive characteristics. The theoretical basis and process system for preparing superhydrophobic fabrics are becoming increasingly mature and gradually improving. With the introduction of various nanomaterials and finishing technologies, the versatile functions involved in superhydrophobic fabric surface are improved, and especially, these acquired versatile fabrics maintain excellent self-cleaning and oil-water separation capability in multiple cycle experiments. In addition, we reviewed the research status and potential application of superhydrophobic fabrics applied for constructing functional clothing fabrics and industrial oil-water separation. The superhydrophobic fabrics obtained by a biomimetic strategy possess potential application value in various industries, including functional clothing fabric, oil-water separation, biomedicine, aerospace and navigation. Varieties of valuable research achievements have been accumulated in physical and chemical synthesis and processing of superhydrophobic fabrics, as well as related to regulate physical and chemical properties research. Nevertheless, we still face various current challenges for obtaining stable functional performance of superhydrophobic fabrics, so future research topics should be focused on preparing superhydrophobic fabrics with mechanical stability and durability, and expanding their application prospects and commercial value. For large-scale production and application, it is also necessary to develop environmentally friendly, efficient and sustainable routes to prepare versatile superhydrophobic fabrics, and focus on the design and development of superhydrophobic coatings with advanced multifunction features, as sustainable energy production and storage are considered to be the key to explore future multi-functional textiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]