The Nashville Fashion Alliance (NFA), which had formed in an attempt to elevate the city’s diverse industry and culture into a denim hub, has quietly dissolved after five years. Robert Antoshak, the Managing Director of Olah Inc., who was also the last chairman of the NFA, confirmed that the organisation’s board voted to dissolve NFA in March, but didn’t make a formal announcement. He elaborated his company’s inability to set up a Fashion Accelerator Innovation Resource Center as a reason for this.

However, Antoshak expects fashion entrepreneurs and specialists to implement the project successfully. He also expects a local university to incorporate elements of the fashion innovation center into its programming. The NFA was founded through a kickstarter campaign that raised $100,000. A report NFA published in 2017 indicated Nashville had the largest per capita concentration of independent fashion companies outside of New York and Los Angeles. The fashion industry contributed $5.9 billion to the city directly and indirectly and employed more than 16,200 people. Those numbers could reach $9.5 billion and 25,000 people by 2025 with the right investment.