Posts by Laura Zaharia

Media Mentions – Crains – 2-6-11

Betsey & Steve: Fashion Week’s odd couple
Crain’s New York, February 06, 2011

As Betsey Johnson gears up for New York Fashion Week, she’s not losing her trademark spunk and flair for extravagance. Despite the designer’s financial baggage—her company was bailed out by new owner Steven Madden Ltd.—she’s still typical Betsey, sending out costly, hologram-embedded invitations for her Valentine’s Day runway show, while other designers opted for cheap electronic invites.

Late last year, dealing with debt and declining sales, Ms. Johnson turned to Mr. Madden as her white knight. While the core Betsey apparel label should stay intact—Ms. Johnson remains as designer—Mr. Madden is expected to expand the company (which reportedly rakes in $150 million in annual revenue) into accessories. Even before the acquisition, Steven Madden already held the licenses for small handbags under the Betsey Johnson trademarks.

“If they give her the freedom to keep designing, if she’s in good spirits and keeps the wacky personality that drives the brand intact, that’s terrific,” said Susan Scafidi, director of Fordham University’s Fashion Law Institute. “It would have been a mistake for Steve Madden to try to take over the entire company and push the designer out as we’ve seen in so many tragic takeovers.”

…

“Steve Madden has expanded to places where he’s cheek by jowl with higher-end merchandise, so he looks like a bargain,” said Ms. Scafidi. “He’s ridden the [shoe] wave very well, which is part of why he wants to take Betsey [further] into footwear.”

Media Mentions – Crains 11-27-11

Diane von Furstenberg, Liz Claiborne: designer greats, different fates
Crains New York, November 27, 2011

Ms. von Furstenberg and Ms. Claiborne, who passed away in 2007, won the hearts of American working women when they founded their apparel companies in 1972 and 1976, respectively. Riding the wave of the nascent women’s movement, both Brussels-born designers recognized the market’s need for clothing that was versatile, professional, chic and wearable at a time when women were making the most of their newly claimed equal rights and entering the workforce in droves. And both women rose to prominence, the styles of each epitomizing an entire class of women.

“In the case of both brands, women really identified, in different ways, with their namesakes,” said Susan Scafidi, academic director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School. “Diane was the princess, the social butterfly, the icon. Liz was someone you could sit down with and have coffee.”

That connection with shoppers was what made DVF and broke Liz, retail experts said. Liz’s founder retired, leaving the label in a free fall, while DVF’s returned to reinvigorate the brand into a continual upswing. Fashion companies need figureheads, or at least designers with style. Other labels have also lost their chiefs, but new designers came in to bolster the business—as has occurred with Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel, and, more recently, with Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen. Whereas Ms. von Furstenberg is still very much involved in her company, the absence of Ms. Claiborne has taken its toll.

Media Mentions – WWD 9-9-10

Fashion Raises Game in Growing Battle
Women’s Wear Daily, September 9, 2010
(Excerpt)

With their creations splashed around the world via the Internet within seconds after the end of their shows, intellectual property violations, trademark infringement and counterfeiting are more rampant than ever. The crisis has raised the industry’s legal challenges to the forefront and has served as a call to action.

Among the solutions are the opening of the world’s first Fashion Law Institute at New York’s Fordham Law School and the introduction in Congress of the Innovation Design and Piracy Prevention Act, a bill that would extend copyright protection to fashion designs.

Diane von Furstenberg, designer and president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, on Wednesday banged a gavel tied with a pink ribbon to ceremonially open the institute. “As a designer who has been around for a long, long time, I can tell you, a lawyer who understands fashion is a very important thing,” von Furstenberg said. “As a designer, you have to protect yourself in so many ways…there are so many reasons a designer needs a lawyer and, for a young designer, it’s even more important.”

The importance of educating designers and training lawyers in matters concerning fashion and retail played a major role for von Furstenberg, who matched the CFDA’s donation to the institute of $50,000. With $100,000 already in the bank, the institute hopes to raise $1 million in its first year.

Founded by Fordham Law professor Susan Scafidi, the institute will provide a curriculum that will deal with legal and related issues facing designers, such as intellectual property and trademark rights, counterfeiting, copyright, finance, international trade and government regulation—even consumer culture and civil rights. Classes will not only be open to law students but also to emerging designers. Additionally, the institute will offer public seminars and programs on issues of interest to members of the legal and fashion communities, said Scafidi, who will serve as the institute’s academic director.

“The CFDA’s invaluable support and advice will help ensure that the Fashion Law Institute is able to provide a resource and research platform to law students, fashion houses and especially emerging designers, who may not be able to afford the legal counsel that is so important to developing a business,” Scafidi said, noting the fortuity of the school’s Manhattan location, “literally right across the street from Lincoln Center, the new home of fashion week.”

Media Mentions – Textilwirtschaft 8-19-10

Erstes Rechstinstitut für Modefragen
TextilWirtschaft, August 19, 2010

Der US-Modeverband Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) hat zusammen mit der Fordham Law School das Fashion Law Institute gegründet. Es ist das erste Rechtsinstitut weltweit, das auf Mode spezialisiert ist.

Das Fashion Law Institute nimmt am 8. September in New York unter der Leitung von Susan Scafidi seine Arbeit auf. Sie gilt als Pionier des Moderechts. Angeboten werden juristische Beratungen und Schulungen für Studenten und Designer sowie Informationen und Assistenz für die Modeindustrie.