TFG Exclusive: Book of the Month

This month, TFG is excited to read Fashion Law: A Guide for Designers, Fashon Executives, and Attorneys. As the global fashion and apparel industry grows to represent a $3 trillion market, lawyers are having to address the industry's specific legal needs and peculiarties. Fashion Law is the first book that provides a comprehensive overview of the practice area.

 Divided into four main parts, the book covers the following legal issues:

• Intellectual property protection of fashion
• Fashion and apparel licensing
• Counterfeiting
• Commercial operations and expansion
• Employment law issues in fashion
• Marketing, advertising, and promotion
• Retail Leasing for Fashion
• International Development of the Fashion Business
• Import and customs issues in fashion

The guide also includes the following features:

• Summaries of court cases
• Legal tips fashion designers and executives should establish in conducting their business
• Template agreements illustrating the provisions that owners and managers of fashion business should include in their documents
• Sample clauses to familiarize readers with the legal language 

Fashion Law was written by a team of experienced attorneys and legal experts and edited by Guillermo C. Jimenez, a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technoloy, and Barbara Kolsun, General Counsel for Stuart Weitzman. TFG was most impressed by the book's use of primary sources and sample clauses, all of which bring the practice area to life and help the reader navigate through the various legal issues that face the fashion industry. Whether you're an emerging designer launching your own line or a practicing attorney, Fashion Law is an ideal read for anyone who is involved in the legal or business side of the industry.

Click here to purchase the book online. 

Fashion Law?

It was almost three years ago when I first heard about fashion law. It was a growing practice area at the time, but I was excited to find a field of law that became the focus of my legal education.  Indeed, the discovery made my gnawing law school angst and doubts disappear. Since then, the field has expanded and gained quite a bit of traction among law students and practicing attorneys.  Nevertheless, the question continues to follow me- what IS fashion law?

Fashion law is a specialized field that encompasses intellectual property, employment, contracts, trade, and various corporate law issues. With the advent of e-commerce and social media, internet law has also become part of the legal repertoire. Fashion lawyers can have clients that range from emerging designers, to fast-fashion retailers, to major luxury brand conglomerates.  This may all sound very glamorous, but the reality is that fashion is a multi-billion dollar industry conducting serious business transactions.  Behind those transactions are the fashion lawyers whose legal knowledge is imperative to the process of building a successful brand and company.  With their specialization, they can provide the specific legal solutions that cater to the industry's particular needs. 

As fashion law continues to establish itself, TFG must highlight the work of Susan Scafidi.  As the author of Counterfeit Chic and a pioneer in fashion law, Scafidi established and legitimized the practice area with her legislative efforts behind the Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act (IDPPPA) and serving as the director of Fordham Law School's Fashion Law Institute. With the support of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), fashion law will continue to grow as a practice area.

Sh*t Fashion Girls Say

We here at The Fashion Grid may love fashion, but we also know not to take any of it too seriously. That's why when a series of videos called "Sh*t Fashion Girls Say" went viral on Youtube, we had to share it with our readers. If you work in the fashion industry, consider yourself a fashionista, or know someone who does, you will get a good laugh at the following series.