Fashion law is the emerging business law specialty that provides legal counsel to fashion executives and entrepreneurs as they make strategic decisions and confront problems in design, manufacturing, distribution and retail.
Fashion is not only a global trillion industry (as narrowly defined in terms of apparel, footwear, jewelry and cosmetics), but it has also become a driving force in the greater business world as the concept of fashion branding has spread to enhance such other product areas as eyewear, home products, hotels, automobiles, and electronics.
This course will teach students to develop effective synergies between strategic and legal perspectives in the growth of a fashion company. Students will practice analyzing business issues from a legal perspective -- and legal issues from a business perspective -- throughout the life cycle of a fashion company. The course will address the key challenges faced by companies as they move from entrepreneurship through domestic growth, brand extension through licensing, and international expansion via sourcing and distribution.
This course uses a combination of business and legal materials. Via practical exercises, case studies and simulations, students will learn to devise effective strategies for intellectual property protection (including design protection and counterfeits), commercial operations and expansion of a brand (including fashion and apparel licensing), commercial agreements (including distribution agreements), contractual compliance with human rights standards, retail leasing and "shop in shop" strategies, and professional responsibility and practice pitfalls.
This course aims to provide an arena for stimulating educational interaction between business and law students. Students will analyze fashion law cases not only from the legal perspective, but also as a window on actual fashion business practices. Likewise, students will read business school case studies not only from the perspective of strategic management, but also from the viewpoint of in-house counsel and legally-astute executives.
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