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The TGSD’s Brand Promise

To lead the Turkish clothing industry in becoming a global brand by embracing institutionalization, innovation, sustainability, and consistent quality.

The TGSD’s Communication Objectives

The Turkish Clothing Manufacturers’ Association

The Turkish Clothing Manufacturers’ Association (TGSD), founded in 1976, is a professional organization that became a public benefit organization with the Council of Ministers Decree No. 2003/5288 on February 7, 2003. Aiming to create an environment for the Turkish clothing industry to develop the Association spearheads industry initiatives, promotes it abroad and provides industry-wide collaborations. Its members are the leading exporters in the industry. They mainly export to the European Union and the United States, which account for a big portion of the total export volume.

The Association became a member of the International Apparel Federation (IAF) in 1988 and joined the the International Commission for Color (Intercolor) in 1996, and European Apparel and Textile Confederation (EURATEX) June 6, 1997. TGSD is a founding member of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK) and represents the Turkish clothing industry at the Turkish Clothing Industry Assembly of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB).

Under the leadership of Ramazan Kaya and Sanem Dikmen, who were elected president of the board of directors of the Association for the 23rd term at the General Assembly held on April 1st, 2019, and 24 board members who are successful entrepreneurs in their fields, the TGSD represents the Turkish clothing industry before the government and bureaucracy, and at international institutions in line with its vision and mission.

The Association has always been in close contact with the textile design and engineering departments of textile vocational high schools and universities and has given priority to joint projects in education, R&D and productivity training. In 2008, the Association organized the first “Istanbul Fashion Conference” to bring together the stakeholder of the clothing production value chain including fashion, design, accessories, retail and logistics, and machinery industries. The Association holds successfully the Istanbul Fashion Conference every year, since 2007. The conference featured presentations by many renowned experts and senior-level executives and made a major commercial contribution to the industry by hosting business-to-business meetings among more than 1,000 buyers and exporters every year.

In 2003, the Association published a book titled “UFUK 2010” (HORIZON 2010) for the industry. “UFUK 2010” aimed to prepare small and medium-sized enterprises for the non-quota and competitive global arena with the inauguration of quota-free trade in textile and apparel products in 2005, in line with the “Turkish Clothing Industry Read Map” Project and included the predictions regarding its 2010 vision. The project formed the basis of the National Strategy and laid the foundation of the change and transformation efforts of the Textile, Clothing and Leather Industries’ Strategic Action Plan. The book addresses the domestic market improvements, such as the rapid development of organized retailing, and active marketing to peripheral countries, the untapped northern European countries and other untapped markets. The predictions of the book included the migration of the local production facilities from metropolitan areas to Anatolia, in other words, the Consolidation of the Clothing Industry in the specialized Industrial Regions (clustering model manufacturing bases).

In 2016, the UFUK project was named to “UFUK 2030.” The updated book attempts to predict the global and industrial trends up to 2030 and also features the strategic objectives and support programs of the Turkish clothing industry for 2023.