Fashion & Retail Industry

Olshan leads the field in the Fashion & Retail Industry.  We offer the distinct advantage of being located in the heart of an international fashion capital and being unique in our ability to service all business, intellectual property, technology and marketing needs to brand owners, fashion companies, retailers and e-tailers. The fashion and retail industry is in constant flux in today’s global, technology-driven marketplace and our attorneys offer the requisite creativity and understanding of the unique needs of our clients to guide their success with pragmatic legal advice, from entrepreneurial startups to global public companies.  

The fashion and retail industry is driven by intellectual property, and the attorneys in Olshan’s Intellectual Property Law practice are highly skilled in counseling clients regarding brand development and protection, including:

• Development of a global intellectual property strategy
• Trademark and copyright clearance
• Domestic and international anti-counterfeiting
• Litigation to enforce intellectual property rights, including trademark, trade dress and copyright infringement
• Protection of trade secrets
• Rights of publicity and privacy
• Negotiating and litigating claims under licensing agreements
• Defending against claims of infringement

Fashion brands increasingly prioritize e-commerce as part of their retail and marketing strategies, and rely on social media, bloggers, influencers and other emerging methods of engaging with their customers, all of which present legal challenges. The attorneys in our Advertising Marketing & Promotions practice provide cutting edge advice on issues involving legal compliance relating to e-commerce sites and all forms of social media marketing, as well as conventional advertising methods, including:

• Advertising clearance
• Website development agreements
• Digital and direct marketing
• Influencer and social media campaigns
• Marketing and advertising contracts
• Pricing and promotional marketing
• Privacy Policies
• Sweepstakes and contests

Our fashion and retail clients’ significant challenges include securing a retail location that supports the brand on terms that are consistent with their business and financial goals.  Our attorneys on the Real Estate Law team are uniquely positioned in this area.  Our clients lease, design and build stores across the complete spectrum of venues, from the nation’s most exclusive retail shopping streets and fashion malls to outlet centers, and everything in between.  Our lawyers assist development of bricks & mortar businesses from the ground up with:

• Flagship showroom and store leases
• Leasing of store locations in malls, outlet centers and street locations
• Construction and architect contracts for store design & construction

Our Corporate/Securities Law attorneys assist our fashion industry clients in managing both the day-to-day operational issues that both startups and global brands face, as well as a broad range of complex corporate and financial matters.  Our clients rely on our experienced and creative corporate and securities lawyers to negotiate a wide variety of transactions and give advice on a broad range of issues, including:

• Capital-raising transactions
• Securities offerings
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Transactions with third party distribution centers, web developers, and all outsourced service providers that support a fashion business
• Credit facilities and other loans
• Venture capital financings
• Startups and emerging companies
• Corporate finance
• Corporate governance
• Private equity and venture capital
• Buyouts and “going private” deals
• Joint ventures, franchises and other strategic relationships

With an increasingly complex myriad of labor and employment laws developing at the Federal, state and municipal level, it is essential that our clients receive the best and most current advice.  Our attorneys in the Employment Practices group advise on issues, including:

• EEOC/ NLRB
• Workplace harassment
• Gender and age discrimination
• Employee discipline and discharge
• Internal workplace investigations
• Negotiating employment and severance agreements
• Negotiating non-compete and confidentiality agreements
• FMLA and ADA issues
• State workers’ compensation and disability laws
• Wage-and-hour practices and audits

Our attorneys are considered leaders in the fashion and retail industry and frequently address the unique legal issues they confront. They have published articles in numerous publications, including The New York Law Journal “Fashion Law Special Report,” Luxury Daily, Bloomberg BNA Electronic Commerce & Law Report, Inside Counsel, World Trademark Review, and Aspatore (Thomson Reuters) Navigating Fashion Law: Leading Lawyers on Exploring the Trends, Cases and Strategies of Fashion Law.  Our lawyers are quoted regularly in the media including Women’s Wear Daily, The New York Post, The Fashion Law blog, Huffington Post, Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg, Digiday and Mobile Marketer.