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Fashion Solicitors and Lawyers

Our team of fashion lawyers have an expert knowledge and understanding of the fashion and luxury goods industry and the legal issues affecting it. We have particular expertise in assisting fashion and luxury goods companies to protect, enforce and defend the intellectual property rights that subsist in their products.

The fashion and luxury markets are continuing to evolve at a rapid pace with the rise of cutting edge technology. Our experience in technology means we are well-equipped to assist those working in the wearable technologies and FashTech sectors, advising on the development of applications for new devices, protecting the IPR in new products when working with designers and manufacturers and drafting commercial agreements which govern the supply and sale of products once brought to market.

These developments as well as an increase in consumer demands have created new challenges for the industry for example, more demanding regulations, transparency surrounding sustainability, brand protection as well as employment and commercial issues.

Our team of fashion solicitors have a thorough understanding of the issues facing the fashion and luxury goods industry from new designers to established brands and labels. The Waterfront team has also acted for other individuals and companies within the industry including photographers, models and retailers.

At Waterfront, our understanding of the fashion and luxury sector comes from our experience of working with businesses like yours, by helping navigate growth and surviving challenging market conditions. We know and appreciate that significant money and time has been spent creating and marketing your brand which has allowed it to achieve the exclusivity, reach and consumer awareness it has today. Our fashion solicitors are here to help maintain your brand’s reputation.

Our fashion solicitors in London are able to help at all stages of the process in creating a brand from registering trade marks and protecting intellectual property to complex employment issues and mergers and acquisitions.

Commercial

Technological innovations have created new ways to improve the customer experience and engagement however, these need to be actively managed to protect both your contractual and regulatory obligations as well as brand value.

Our team of fashion lawyers through our detailed understanding of each market, work closely with clients to resolve potential commercial issues such as:

  • Employment contracts to ensure that any intellectual property created by your employees is owned by your company;
  • Advice in relation to commercial contracts such as joint ventures and sales agreements;
  • Terms and Conditions on your company’s website; and
  • Data Protection such as ensuring that your company is complying with GDPR

Intellectual Property

Our team of fashion lawyers have extensive experience in all aspects of intellectual property matters such as those related to fashion and luxury industry clients – for example, copyright, trade marks, designs and counterfeiting (see our article on anti-counterfeiting here).

Waterfront’s fashion solicitors deal with both contentious and non-contentious intellectual property matters ranging from advice surrounding product development and design to advising and litigating claims for intellectual property infringement.

The UK is one of the global centres for both fashion and luxury goods, our team of fashion lawyers in London are therefore ideally placed to work with you helping with the multitude of issues your business faces every day and help find practical solutions to your questions.

Recent Work

  • Acting for a boutique brand to successfully defend an unregistered design infringement claim made by a luxury goods manufacturer.
  • Advising in relation to the proposed use of intellectual property with the help of our IP legal advisors, including trade marks, by an investor in a fashion company. You can contact our expert trademark lawyers in the event you need to make or defend a claim.
  • Advising on an investment deal which saw two existing fashion names create a new collaborative fashion brand through a joint venture company.
  • Acting for a fashion brand owner who was looking to expand into a new territory through an agent.  Advising the fashion brand owner on the implication of an e-commerce website and the conditions necessary to ensure the integrity of the brand.
  • Advising high street retailer H&M on HR and employment matters.
  • Drafting terms of business for bespoke furniture designers and jewellery retailers.
  • Advising on the management buyout of a leading UK fashion private sales website, with backing from private investors.