Textile Capital US: Who Leads American Fabric Manufacturing?

When people think of the textile capital US, the traditional center of American fabric and clothing production. Also known as the heart of the American textile industry, it once meant places like Lowell, Massachusetts, or Greensboro, North Carolina—where mills powered the nation’s economy. Today, that title isn’t held by one city anymore. It’s spread across a few states that still make fabric, yarn, and technical textiles at scale, even as most clothing gets imported.

The textile industry USA, the network of factories, suppliers, and workers producing fabrics and woven goods. Also known as American textile manufacturing, it’s changed dramatically. It’s no longer about mass-producing cheap T-shirts. Instead, it’s focused on high-value products: flame-resistant gear for firefighters, medical textiles for hospitals, and performance fabrics for sports and military use. States like Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina still lead in output, thanks to decades-old infrastructure, skilled labor, and state-level incentives that keep mills running. Even though China and India dominate global apparel exports, the US textile sector is growing in niche areas—especially where speed, quality, and domestic supply chains matter.

There’s also a quiet revival happening in places like Alabama and Tennessee, where small manufacturers are using automation to compete. These aren’t giant factories with hundreds of workers. They’re lean operations turning out specialty fabrics for brands that want to say "Made in America." The American fabric producers, companies that spin, weave, and finish textiles within the United States. Also known as US textile mills, they’re not trying to beat global prices—they’re betting on reliability, faster turnaround, and control over quality. This shift isn’t just about patriotism. It’s about risk reduction. After supply chain shocks during the pandemic, companies realized they couldn’t rely on overseas factories for critical materials.

If you’re looking for where the real textile action is in the US today, skip the big cities. Head to the Carolinas, Georgia, or Alabama. That’s where the looms are still humming, the yarn is still being spun, and the fabric is still being cut and sewn—not just for jeans and shirts, but for drones, tents, airbags, and even space suits. The textile capital US isn’t a single place anymore. It’s a network of smart, small, and stubborn manufacturers who figured out how to survive in a world that forgot them.

Below, you’ll find real examples of how American textile businesses are adapting, what policies are helping them, and which states are quietly becoming the new powerhouses of fabric production.