The CFDA was founded by Eleanor Lambert, the mother of all things American fashion, in 1962, and in the six decades since, three powerhouse women served as President of the organization: Mary McFadden, Carolyne Roehm, and, most recently, Diane von Furstenberg.

This Women’s History Month, we tip our hat off to each and remember just how their accomplishments shaped the American fashion industry as we know it today.

Mary McFadden was the first female president of the CFDA, taking over the role from Bill Blass in 1982. As a designer, McFadden built a legacy around her signature anthropological touch – think Egyptian or Grecian column dresses. As the head of the CFDA, she instilled the organization with a sense of independence. Case in point, she convinced Lambert to hand over CFDA’s papers to her so that she could find new ways to promote and celebrate CFDA designers.

Carolyne Roehm took over from Oscar de la Renta in 1989 at a crisis point: AIDS was impacting fashion at all levels of the industry.

“One was dismayed to hear name after name of people we knew falling to this horrible and frightening disease as it started decimating our industry,” Roehm told CFDA in 2017. “Favorite hairstylists, make-up artists, designers, models – so many suffering or already lost even before we heard from the New York Times that there was a disease targeting young gay men. This was the first time I read the name ‘AIDS.’

With Anna Wintour and Donna Karan, Roehm brought together the industry and the launched 7th on Sale fundraiser benefiting the New York City AIDS Fund.

“The loss of so much talent so quickly was shattering to our industry” Roehm said. “That is the reason I fought so hard, as the president of CFDA at that time, to make sure that we as a group took action to acknowledge our loss and to raise money and awareness of what was happening, because early on there was a lot of fear by communities at large.”

Diane von Furstenberg, who became President in 2006 and Chairwoman from 2015 to 2019, was an inspiration in more ways than one. “Family” was guiding mantra, and she made sure that designers felt a sense of belonging through the CFDA through good and challenging times – as she put it, “a place we could share our goals, our frustrations, our dreams.” Von Furstenberg’s tenure was truly transformative. Under her watch, the CFDA membership grew significantly and many benefited through the Strategic Partnerships Group and other initiatives, and so much more.

Here’s to these female champions of the CFDA!