North America – Fashion Associations

Directory: Fashion Associations, Federations, Councils, and Organizations across North America

These associations represent designers, manufacturers, and retailers across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Together, the three countries form an integrated textile and apparel co-production chain under the USMCA trade agreement.

North America – Fashion Associations, Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA)

Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA)

The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA) is a not-for-profit trade association whose membership consists of more than 400 of America’s foremost womenswear, menswear, jewelry and accessory designers.
cfda.com

North American Trade in 2025-2026

The US-Mexico textile and apparel co-production chain has faced real pressure recently. Over the past 18 months, US textile producers closed 25 plants and lost 26,000 jobs, while Mexico’s industry shed over 75,000 jobs, largely due to underpriced Asian imports bypassing tariffs.

In response, Mexico introduced penalty tariffs of up to 35% on non-USMCA textile and apparel imports in December 2024. The US National Council of Textile Organizations and Mexico’s CANAINTEX jointly welcomed the move, calling the co-production chain vital to hundreds of thousands of jobs across both countries.

Directory: In Alphabetical Order

Canada

Canadian Apparel Federation (CAF)
The Canadian Apparel Federation works to ensure that the industry’s interests are taken into account. We lobby on issues such as internationals trade, tariffs, competition policy and product safety plus a wide range of other issues.
> apparel.ca

Canada Needs A Fashion Council To Save The Industry
Canada did once have a Canadian fashion council, it was started by Robin Kay who was also the founder of Toronto fashion week. In 2012 Robin Kay then sold Toronto fashion week, to American production company IMG — due to the big production standards that IMG holds and the lack of funding Toronto fashion week was receiving, IMG pulled the plug on Toronto fashion week.
> huffingtonpost.ca/canadian-fashion-council

Mexico

Mexico’s textile, apparel, and footwear industries are represented by three major national chambers, each covering a different part of the supply chain.

National Chamber of the Textile Industry (CANAINTEX)
Founded in 1937, CANAINTEX represents Mexico’s textile sector, from fiber and yarn production to fabric manufacturing. It works closely with the Mexican government on trade policy, including recent measures against illegal apparel imports undermining the US-Mexico co-production chain.
canaintex.com

National Chamber of the Apparel Industry (CANAIVE)
CANAIVE represents Mexico’s garment manufacturers, including many of the country’s leading apparel exporters to the United States. Its members span the domestic Mexican market as well as export-focused production.
canaive.org

Chamber of the Footwear Industry of Guanajuato (CICEG)
CICEG represents Mexico’s footwear and leather goods manufacturers, centered in León, Guanajuato, the country’s shoemaking hub. It organizes SAPICA, described as Latin America’s most important footwear and leather trade fair.
ciceg.org

USA

American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA)
The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) is the national trade association representing apparel, footwear and other sewn products companies, and their suppliers, which compete in the global market. The Arts of Fashion Foundation is the First American organization to bring together emerging fashion designers from around the world to share and celebrate creativity in Fashion.
> aafaglobal.org

Apparel Industry Board, Inc.
The Apparel Industry Board, Inc. (AIBI) a 501 © 6, is a delegate agency of the City of Chicago, Department of Community Development and is the only official organization in Illinois specifically dedicated to the needs of the sewn industry. AIBI is comprised of the major players in Greater Chicago whose careers and business expertise span all facets of the industry including design, manufacturing, merchandising, sales, retail, marketing and finance. AIBI is here to nurture and support designers based in Greater Chicago and is constantly developing new programs to better serve and promote the industry as a whole.
> aibi.com

Arts of Fashion Foundation
The Arts of Fashion Foundation is a 501(c) (3), public, non-profit organization, linking both academics and professionals alike and is dedicated in fostering international cultural exchange through the creation of a variety of educational events meant to facilitate critical thinking among artists, designers, scholars and students. The primary focus of the foundation is the continuous support of creativity and design in fashion and the arts linked to it.
> arts-of-fashion.org

Fashion Center Business Improvement District (BID)
The Fashion Center Business Improvement District (BID) was established in 1993 to improve the quality of life and economic vitality of Manhattan’s garment district, and to promote New York City’s apparel industry. Funded by the district’s 575 property owners and over 6,500 businesses, the Fashion Center draws upon the talents of business, civic and government leaders to make the neighborhood clean and safe while strengthening local businesses.
> garmentdistrictnyc.com

Fashion Group International (FGI)
The Fashion Group International is a global, non-profit, professional organization with 5000 members in the fashion industry including apparel, accessories, beauty and home.
The FGI mission is to be the pre-eminent authority on the business of fashion and design and to help its members become more effective in their careers. To do this, FGI provides insights on major trends in person, online and in print; access to business professionals and a gateway to the influence fashion plays in the marketplace.
> fgi.org

Mohair Council of America
The distinctive properties of mohair have made it a highly desired fiber through the centuries for both clothing and home furnishings. Its soft luxurious hand and rich luster combine with great durability for a long lasting product.
With its high affinity for dyes, mohair produced colors that have an unmatched clarity and a halo-like glow. Fabrics containing lively, smooth mohair don’t have a tendency to be easily crushed or matted.
> mohairusa.com

National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO)
The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) is a unique association representing the entire spectrum of the textile industry. From fibers to finished products, machinery manufacturers to power suppliers, NCTO is the voice of the U.S. textile industry. There are four separate councils that comprise the NCTO leadership structure, and each council represents a segment of the textile industry and elects its own officers who make up NCTO’s Board of Directors.
> ncto.org

National Retail Federation (NRF)
As the world’s largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide, NRF represents retailers of all types and sizes from the United States and more than 45 countries abroad including department stores, specialty, apparel, discount, online, independent, grocery and chain restaurants, among others. Retailers operate more than 3.5 million U.S. establishments that support one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.5 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy. NRF’s Retail Means Jobs campaign emphasizes the economic importance of retail and encourages policymakers to support a Jobs, Innovation and Consumer Value Agenda aimed at boosting economic growth and job creation.
> nrf.com

United Colors of Fashion (UCOF)
United Colors of Fashion, Incorporated (UCOF) is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to enlist creative, gifted, and underprivileged aspiring artists in New York who have dreams of being in the fashion industry-arts and giving them the tools to make their dreams come true.
Additionally, the organization aims to provide financial assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS, sickle cell anemia and paralysis living in South Africa and Asia who are at risk and unable to obtain services through normal channels.
The purposes for which the corporation is organized are exclusively charitable, scientific, literary, and educational within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law.
> unitedcolorsoffashion.org

NCTO Podcast
Check out NCTO’s podcast on the role U.S. textiles play in our everyday lives and their connection to bigger issues such as health, safety and global competitiveness.
> more

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