KFAT was formed in 1991 through the amalgamation of the National Union of Hosiery and Knitwear Workers and the National Union of the Footwear, Leather and Allied Trades, both of which had long histories going back to the 19th century involving many other mergers of clothing, boot and shoe workers, leather workers, and glove makers.
Mergers across the 20th century brought to the new union strength in numbers from Bristol, Norwich and Glasgow to Leicester and Northampton, Lancashire and Yorkshire. In recent years members of KFAT have been focused mainly in the East Midlands- Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, with members in the Lancashire textile region and the Yorkshire leather-producing industry.
KFAT attracted a much higher proportion of women members than most British unions - in 2004 about half of the members were women. It also had a high proportion of members of Asian origin, mostly working in the clothing industries in the East Midlands and Lancashire.