Fashion Associations

Fashion associations bring together designers, manufacturers, and retailers within the fashion industry. They foster collaboration, provide resources, and represent their members’ shared interests.

Many fashion associations do more than advocate. National councils like the British Fashion Council and Fashion Council Germany directly organize their country’s official fashion week. If you’re researching a fashion week, its national association is usually the organizing body behind it.

Fashion Associations, Councils, organizations, women designers

Global Apparel Trade in 2025-2026

World textile exports totaled $319 billion in the most recent full-year data, while the global apparel market is valued at roughly $1.8 trillion. Trade patterns are shifting fast, though.

China’s share of world clothing exports fell to 29.6% in 2024, its lowest level since 2010. Meanwhile, Vietnam crossed $46 billion in textile and garment exports in 2025, with a $21 billion trade surplus.

Even so, China’s influence runs deeper than finished-goods numbers suggest. Many exports from Vietnam, Cambodia, and other Asian manufacturers still contain 20-30% of value created in China, through imported yarns, fabrics, and trims.

For wholesale buyers, this means sourcing diversification is real, but supply chains remain interconnected. A “Made in Vietnam” label doesn’t always mean a fully Vietnamese supply chain.

Directory: In Alphabetical Order

Fashion Revolution
On April 24th last year, 1133 people were killed when the Rana Plaza factory complex collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Many more were injured. Today, people are still suffering as a direct result of our fashion supply chain.
Fashion Revolution Day says enough is enough.
On April 24th, people around the world – from designers and icons, to high street shops and high couture, from cotton farmers and factory workers, to campaigners, academics, the media and any individual who cares about what they wear – will come together to say the same.
Founder of Fashion Revolution, Carry Somers says “Fashion Revolution Day has gathered incredible momentum on a global scale. We have over 40 countries around the world who will be participating in the day and I believe this represents a really exciting opportunity to reconnect fashion-lovers with the people who made their clothes”.
> fashionrevolution.org

Fashion Revolution Day - Fashion Associations

Global Fashion Association (GFA)
The Global Fashion Association (The GFA) was founded in 2007, is headquartered in New York City and is the world’s largest organization of its kind. We are a cohesive, worldwide association of the most important events in the Fashion industry-the week long celebrations of design, style, art and commerce known as “Fashion Weeks”. A first within the industry, we are analogous to a sports league with each of our members’ events acting similarly to a team within that league, but rather than teams and games, we have Fashion Weeks and runway shows.
> globalfashionassociation.com

International Apparel Federation (IAF)
The IAF has become the world’s leading federation for apparel manufacturers, their associations, apparel retailers and the supporting industry. IAF’s membership now includes apparel associations from nearly 40 countries representing over 150,000 companies that provide products and services to the apparel industry – a membership that represents over 5 million employees. The many corporate and associate members of IAF are prominent companies or institutes in production, retailing, technology, business services, logistics, fashion fairs and education. The International Apparel Federation is a politically neutral global association, open to entrepreneurs and executives from the apparel chain worldwide.
> iafnet.com

Sustainable Apparel Coalition
The Sustainable Apparel Coalition is an industry-wide group of over 80 leading apparel and footwear brands, retailers, suppliers, nonprofits, and NGOs working to reduce the environmental and social impacts of apparel and footwear products around the world.
The focus of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition is The Higg Index that measures the environmental performance of apparel products. Future versions will include footwear products and measure social performance.
> apparelcoalition.org

World Fashion Organization (WFO)
World Fashion Organization (WFO) is the global parent entity of World Fashion Associations, national and regional chapters, and World Fashion Week. Its primary goal is to further the development of World Fashion with the firm belief that world fashion is conductive to both unity and peace among nations under the theme of “We Fashion All”, which calls for “Fashion for Development and Peace”.
> more

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