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Inside Fashion Law

Guidelines to what is accepted in society. That is a debatable phrase to what the law means to us. Without law there would chaos, conflict and even devastation in our communities. As times change, so does the law if we agree with it or not, that's just how society works.

The fashion industry is no different from any other industry, there are laws and regulations in place that companies need to obey so they can be protected and of course to avoid all sorts of chaos. But as in any other industry, there are all kinds of lawbreakers. I want to focus on three (3) examples that have impacted the fashion industry recently and the outcome of these examples.

With over 400 stores, 12 000 employees and billions in revenue, Forever 21 became a global empire focusing on cheap girl fashion. But all this success didn't come without a price. Between 2006 and 2007 the company faced 15 lawsuits alone. Not only are companies and designers suing Forever 21, their own workers are too. In 2001, all the factory workers attempted to alert management on the unsanitary working conditions and owed wages. Forever 21 refused to negotiate with the workers and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center filed a lawsuit against them. Forever 21 finally decided to settle and with Sweatshop Watch on their backs they didn't really have a choice.

My second example comes from an unique shoe company. Blake Mycoskie is the owner and chief shoe giver (CEO) of Toms Shoes, a shoe company based out of Santa Monica. California. But it’s this company’s message that makes it so unique. For every pair of shoes purchased, Toms gives a pair to a child in need, that’s where the companies slogan comes in play; One For One. Toms was started in 2006 and to date has given back more then 1 million pair of shoes to children in need.

In late 2010 the very popular shoe company Skechers, launched a new line called "BOBS" and looks exactly like the Toms shoe model. Not only did they copy the shoe design but they even copied Toms main mission, One For One. For every pair of Bobs purchased, Skechers will give a pair to a child in need. It became a global controversy, even so that Skechers had to take down their Bobs promotion. But I think you need to take a deeper look at this situation. Blake Mycoskie, the founder of Toms Shoes, has always motivated other people and companies to copy his business model, so you have to be careful what you say. I doubt Blake thought someone would copy his business model so blatantly but in the end this proved Skechers lack of creativity and originality. If Skechers copied the idea in a different way it could have worked but doing something like this purely for marketing and promotion purposes is unethical and the consumer and see right through it.

My third and last example comes from a very unique entrepreneur who started his company as a complete joke, Johnny Cupcakes. Johnny first started selling his t-shirts back in 2001 while touring with his band. The brand grew so much that Johnny had to quit his band so he could focus on his new clothing brand. Today Johnny Cupcakes has three (3) boutique stores in the US and one (1) in London. But with such a successful and popular brand you can expect a few copycats out there.

Pastry is an all girl clothing line founded by the daughters of Run DMC legend, Rev Run. Angella and Vanessa Simmons didn't think (at the time) the small time clothing brand Johnny Cupcakes would hurt them as much as he did. A customer stating that he saw the new upcoming line by Pastry contacted Johnny. One of the shirts looked exactly like one of Johnny's shirts, the placement and font was basically the same. Johnny kept it quiet and decided to contact his Trademark attorney. Pastry was ordered not to release the shirts because of trademark infringement (Johnny did trademark the term: "Make Cupcakes Not War"). Johnny's customers were very disappointed in the idea of someone stealing his design and gave Pastry a bad reputation right off the bat.

Reference:

1. http://fashionlawyerblog.com/?p=371
2. http://www.fastcompany.com/1696887/toms-vs-bobs-how-skechers-shot-themselves-in-the-foot
3. http://www.cotygonzales.com/2009/01/15/pastry-tries-to-imitate-johnny-cupcakes/