Events

Call for Fashion Law Research Assistants & Pop-Up Clinic Student Director

The Fashion Law Institute is excited to announce that we are seeking a student, ideally rising second-year, for the position of student director of our Fashion Law Pop-Up Clinic. The student director is expected to participate in the clinic for a two-year period or until their graduation, and the selected candidate will work closely with Professor Susan Scafidi, Founder & Director of the Fashion Law Institute, and Assistant Director Ariele Elia.  More information about the Fashion Law Pop-Up Clinic is available here.  In addition to regularly scheduled clinics, the Fashion Law Institute periodically takes on more extensive pro bono projects.

In addition, Professor Scafidi is seeking first-year summer research assistants for projects in the field of fashion law.

Please send your resume, law school transcript, and a statement of interest no longer than 200 words to ariele@fashionlawinstitute.com.

All applications should be submitted by 11:00am on Friday, March 8.

If you have any questions, please email ariele@fashionlawinstitute.com.

Inside Out 9

Announcement of Inside Out 9 event noting Sold Out registrtion, illustrated with image of person wearing a hat in the shape of U.S. Capitol dome

SOLD OUT!

Join us for our 9th annual panel featuring fashion's in-house counsel!

Washington may be routinely derided as the city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm, but U.S. federal agencies have been quite busy lately with new proposals and regulations that directly affect the fashion industry.  We've asked in-house colleagues to join us for a candid, off-the-record discussion of the agency activities that they're watching closely, from the Copyright Office and AI to the DOL and employee misclassification to the SEC and climate change reporting -- and of course, the question on everyone's mind, wtFTC?!  We look forward to seeing you during New York Fashion Week for our 9th annual in-house counsel panel, "Inside Out 9: Fashion's in-house counsel on federal agency agendas"!  This session will not be recorded.

DATE:  Friday, February 9, 2024
TIME:  9:30-10:45 am
PLACE:  Fordham Law School, 150 W. 62nd Street, New York, NY  10023
NYS CLE: 1.5 hours professional practice, transitional and non-transitional

Speakers: 
  • Ewa Abrams, Kering
  • Jeffrey Hellman, PVH
  • Hayley Macon, Endeavor
  • Alice Pang, Ralph Lauren
  • Ashley Valdes, Warby Parker
  • Moderated by Professor Susan Scafidi, Founder & Director, Fashion Law Institute at Fordham

 

For more information about the Institute or the CLE hardship policy, please contact us at events@fashionlawinstitute.com.

14th Annual Symposium

Join us in person on Friday, April 26, for the 14th annual Fashion Law Institute symposium!

DATE: April 26, 2024
TIME: 9am-6pm
PLACE: Fordham Law School, 150 W. 62nd Street
NYS CLE: 6.0 hours total (5.0 professional practice, transitional & non-transitional, and 1.0 diversity, inclusion, and elimination of bias)

$ 0.00

Image of Rudolph the red nosed reindeer with collar imprinted with gold Fashion Law Institute needle-and-thread gavel logo -- Fiat Lex! Warmest wishes for a holiday season filled with light and joy from all of us at the Fashion Law Institute!

We look forward to seeing you in 2024!

Sign up in January for these upcoming events:

 

Inside Out 9: Fashion's In-House Counsel!
Friday, February 9, 2024

 

14th Annual Symposium
Friday, April 26, 2024

 

Applications for our next Fashion Law Bootcamp in New York are also open!

 

And, if you're feeling the spirit of the season, the glee of a holiday bonus, or simply the satisfaction of planning a tax deduction before the end of the year, please help us continue the work of the Fashion Law Institute with your donation. We're a self-supporting 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and contributions at all levels are deeply appreciated!

Unzipped

Unzipped event announcement illustrated with pink smiley-face icon with an unzipped zipper for a moutn

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT AND REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED.
We look forward to seeing you at a future event!

Fashion is a regular subject of editorial critique, whether as art or commerce, but fashion houses and industry professionals who receive negative attention are unlikely to appreciate the media spotlight.  In extreme cases, fashion editors -- who rely on invitations, unlike restaurant or theater critics -- have been banned from runway shows.  Journalists and social media commenters have also been threatened with defamation and invasion of privacy claims by irate fashion designers, brands, and photographers, both in the U.S. and in other jurisdictions.  How do fashion critics balance access and candor, whether covering collections, reporting news, or analyzing the industry?  Do anti-defamation lawsuits have a chilling effect on expression?  Can anti-SLAPP laws balance free speech concerns?  Please join

  • Award-winning fashion journalist and author Teri Agins;
  • Lindsey Schuyler and Tony Liu, the duo behind Diet Prada (infamously sued by Dolce & Gabbana);
  • Italian attorney Marco Amorese;
  • Jeff Trexler, Fashion Ethics professor at Fordham and an expert on banned books; and
  • Professor Susan Scafidi, founder and director of the Fashion Law Institute,

for a Fashion Law Institute panel discussion, "Unzipped! Law and the Art of Speaking Truth to Fashion."

DATE: Thursday, November 9, 2023
TIME: 9:30-10:45am (continental breakfast at 9am)
PLACE: Fordham School of Law, 150 W.62nd St., New York, NY. 10023
NYS CLE: 1.5 hours professional practice, transitional and non-transitional

For more information about the Institute or the CLE hardship policy, please contact us at events@fashionlawinstitute.com.

Fashion Law Practicum

Fashion Law Practicum course applications are now being accepted for Spring 2024. 

 

Application instructions:  Submit your application to the Fashion Law Institute’s university email address, fashionlaw@fordham.edu, with the subject header, “Application for Fashion Law Practicum Spring 2024,” no later than Wednesday, October 4th at 5:00pm EST. The application should consist of a maximum 200-word statement about your qualifications, a résumé, and a transcript. Applications sent after the due date will be given lowest priority.

 

Prerequisite: At least one prior fashion law course (specify in application).  

 

Post-application process:  The course instructors choose the initial set of participants, who are then confirmed by the internship sponsors. Please do not attempt to contact the course instructors or potential internship sponsors during the selection process.  Only students who receive notification that they have been accepted to the course will be permitted to enroll, and the Registrar’s Office will enroll accepted students directly.

 

Important notices:  Like other drafting courses, the Practicum is extremely small — typically around 8 students. Students taking clinic courses or working (including at another internship) are advised against concurrently taking the Practicum due to the time commitment involved.  Instead, consider Fashion Law Drafting, which is essentially the same as the Fashion Law Practicum apart from the Praticum’s fieldwork component.  Fashion Law Drafting is also a small course but does not require a separate application.  Students may not take both the Fashion Law Practicum and Fashion Law Drafting.  If you have questions, please contact Ariele Elia, ariele@fashionlawinstitute.com.  

 

Please note that acceptance into the Fashion Law Practicum course and registration are contingent upon subsequent approval by the fashion house or other fashion-related company, nonprofit organization, or law firm to whom the applicant is assigned for the fieldwork component of the course. 

 

Description of course: This advanced seminar, which consists of both a classroom component and a fieldwork placement, will develop students’ skills in the practice of fashion law. Students will complete a series of drafting assignments of increasing complexity, such as a cease-and-desist letter, a licensing agreement, a retail lease, a manufacturing agreement, an employment agreement, a consignment agreement, articles of organization and an operating agreement for a limited liability company, a model release form, sweepstakes rules, website terms of use, and a privacy policy and/or a complaint, each related to an aspect of fashion law. In addition, each student will be assigned to fieldwork placement at a fashion house or other fashion-related company, nonprofit organization, or law firm with a substantial practice in the field of fashion law.

 

Fashion Week Panel: Designing Diversity II

Gold ribbon and Fashion Law Institute needle-and-spool gavel logo

Fashion has taken strides toward greater racial diversity – but as we anticipated in our panel discussion last fall, the U.S. Supreme Court has effectively eviscerated affirmative action, a key civil rights tool for over half a century.  While the opinion addressed college admissions policies, its reasoning is far broader, and follow-on cases challenging corporate internships and scholarships are already on the horizon.  Could a pledge to stock more products from an underrepresented group, a hiring strategy intended to achieve racial or other forms of diversity, or a program of targeted support for minority designers now be considered unconstitutional?  How might the decision affect existing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs?  And what are the best legal and ethical strategies for collecting the dividends of diversity and promoting the full spectrum of style in light of the Court's decision?  Our panel of experts for "Designing Diversity after Affirmative Action, Part II" will discuss these questions and more.  Join us at the beginning of New York Fashion Week to celebrate the Fashion Law Institute's 13th anniversary and engage in one of our favorite roles:  cutting-edge analysis and constructive problem solving.

DATE: Friday, September 8, 2023
TIME: 9:30-10:45am (breakfast 9am)
PLACE: Fordham Law, 150  W. 62nd St., 2nd floor (Bateman Room)
NYS CLE: 1.5 hours Ethics and Professionalism, transitional and non-transitional

SPEAKERS:
Angie Byun, AB World
Hayley Macon, Endeavor
Jeff Trexler, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Kenya Wiley, Georgetown University

MODERATOR:
Professor Susan Scafidi
Founder & Director, Fashion Law Institute

Due to the social significance of this topic, there is no required registration fee. Voluntary donations are welcome – and tax-deductible!

Register now!