All of us are aware that law is dynamic in nature i.e, it keeps on changing with trends of the
society. And what is more dynamic then Fashion? So there is a emerging field of law coming
up known as Fashion law or apparel law which covers issues surrounding the life of garment,
from its creation to its brand protection. This article will help you in creating a overview of
fashion law in your mind and inform you about the skills and qualifications required to grab
the opportunities provided by Fashion Law.
Fashion attorneys perform a range of tasks such as advising clients on Legal issues regarding
fashion, apparel, textile, luxury items, footwear, jewellery and cosmetic industries. It also
includes a range of services like merchandising, franchising, licensing and distribution
agreements related to fashion industries. Fashion law includes all the necessary services for
starting new fashion houses and provide legal advice to already existing entities in matters
related to employment and labour issues, making Fashion law a very broad area to practice
in.
In a very similar way as other sector of Industries fashion law also covers matters of
sustainability, safety and various aspects of corporate, real estate, tax and business law
related to transactions of Fashion Industry.
Roles to be performed by Fashion Law Professionals
A fashion lawyer needs to perform a broad range of services like drafting and negotiating
contracts, trademark related litigations and licenses, copyright and other intellectual
property related issues. It also covers forming and dissolving of business entities related to
Fashion, advising on branding development matters. One of the major tasks in practising
Fashion law is looking into export and import matters of related to Fashion Industry, like
making necessary arrangements for securing Import and Export licenses.
Fashion law covers a wide range of clients like designers, fashion houses, distributors,
manufacturer’s, modeling agencies and photographer’s.
Necessary Qualifications for being a Fashion Lawyer
There are very far and few fashion law institutes in India. a few top NLUs like NALSAR
Hyderabad provide Diploma courses to LLM students for providing the opportunity to study
fashion related legal issues. There are specialty courses on fashion law like Fashion law and
Finance, Fashion Ethics, Fashion Retail Law. There are various public seminars for legal
professionals as well as many summer courses that’s open to both degree and non-degree
students. Law institutes are coming up with new courses in fashion law at a very rapid rate.
Reasons behind Rapid Growth of Fashion Law
Fashion law is an emerging area of law which is in its initial era of being recognized as a
distinct practice area. Internet era has also brought before fashion professionals new issues
like piracy which require legal advice and protection. Legal advice is required by Fashion
houses to keep the smooth functioning of their Organizations on track.
Fashion Industries includes a lot of IPR matters, so for the protection of IPRs fashion law is
required. Fashion law also includes a lot of Competition law matters and which can only be
dealt by legal experts and with the growth of Fashion industry fashion law is also growing.
Opportunities in Fashion Law
Fashion law now has been established as a separate branch of speciality, but still only a few
law firms specialize in this area.
Taking courses in fashion law, intellectual property, business and finance, international
trade, government regulation, and consumer culture can provide a foundation that may
boost your chances of employment in this specialty.
Volunteering to assist in providing pro bono legal services to the fashion community is
another way to gain contacts and related experience. Alternatively, you can intern with a
law firm that specializes in fashion law or works with fashion clients.
Networking, getting to know the players in the fashion law area – it’s a small circle – and
finding a mentor can also help you break into the field of fashion law.
Thannks great blog