Events
Designing Diversity 2: After Affirmative Action
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
Register now!
Due to the social significance of this topic, there is no required registration fee. Voluntary donations are welcome – and tax-deductible!
Symposium review at LookOnline.com
Missed our 13th annual symposium? Here’s a comprehensive – and delightful – overview of the entire event, with photos and panel summaries from Laurel Marcus @ LookOnline.com!
We’re preparing recordings of several panels – along with additional pics – and will post links here when they’re accessible.
CLE Materials – 13th Annual Symposium
Media Mentions 2023
2024 (selected)
China’s Gen Z workers are going ‘gross
Fortune, March 30, 2024
Who Gets to Buy a Birkin Bag?
Business of Fashion, March 26, 2024
Has fashion canceled canceling?
New York Times, March 25, 2024
Consumers sue Hermès over barriers to buying Birkin bags
CBS News, March 23, 2024
‘Hermès has it in the bag’: Legal experts weigh Birkin lawsuit
The Washington Post, March 21, 2024
Nike’s Trademark Infringement Lawsuit Against Bape Is Moving Forward
WWD, March 6, 2024
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Faces New Allegations of Sexual Assault
WWD, February 27, 2024
Trump sneakers and those red soles
Bloomberg Law, February 29, 2024
The NFL’s (Belated) Legal Fit Check
Spy, February 14, 2024
Chanel wins trademark infringement case against What Goes Around Comes Around
Fashionista, February 7, 2024
Chanel Wins Trademark Case Against What Goes Around Comes Around
Business of Fashion, February 7, 2024
Face, detected: Is artificial intelligence (AI) a threat to fashion models?
Grazia, February 5, 2024
Chanel is taking What Goes Around Comes Around to court: Here's what to know
Vogue Business, January 8, 2024
From Mickey to Bambi, why are all the new public domain characters showing up in horror?
Fast Company, January 5, 2024
2023 (selected)
Shein accused of "mafia-style intimidation" in new lawsuit from Temu
Shein IPO sends chill through sustainable fashion
Vogue Business, December 1, 2023
It Was the Year of Barbie Pink, But Whose Color Is It Anyway?
Vanity Fair, November 27, 2023
Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman hosts Fashion Law Institute Pop-Up Clinic
Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, November 20, 2023
Model says her face was edited with AI to look white: ‘It’s very dehumanizing’
The Guardian, November 4, 2023
Spot the ‘superfake’: Fashion brands want you to be able to identify counterfeits
CNN, October 13, 2023
How Shein Wound Up in the Luxury Fashion Business
Business of Fashion, September 28, 2023
How Hollywood Stylists Can — and Just Might — Unionise
Business of Fashion, September 1, 2023
Springer, August 9, 2023
Complex, July 18, 2023
Shein lawsuit accuses fashion-fashion site of RICO violations
CBS News, July 17, 2023
Shein's Winding Path to an IPO
Business of Fashion, July 7, 2023
Fashion School Leaders Express Concern Over Supreme Court Affirmative Action Decision
WWD, June 29, 2023
What Happens When Designers Team Up With Shein
Business of Fashion, June 8, 2023
Business of Fashion, April 24, 2023
Supreme Court Puts Hold on Transgender Sports Ban
Bloomberg Law, April 13, 2023
Virtual try-on is being hit by class actions. Should brands worry?
Vogue Business, March 7, 2023
Why your employer can dress code you for being part of the no bra club
The U.S. Sun, February 24, 2023
The MetaBirkins Creator Isn’t Done Fighting Yet
Business of Fashion, February 22, 2023
What the Hermes MetaBirkins Victory Means for the NFT Market
Surface, February 9, 2023
Making Sense of the Hermes v. Rothschild Metabirkins Verdict
Fashionista, February 9, 2023
Hermes Won its Lawsuit Against Mason Rothschild. What Happens Now?
Retail Brew, February 9, 2023
Doja Cat and Kylie Jenner Go Wild at Paris Fashion Week
The Daily Beat, January 23, 2023
Designer Thom Browne bests Adidas in court battle of stripes
AP News, January 12, 2023
What are the Potential Outcomes of the Adidas vs. Thom Browne Lawsuit?
Fashion Network, January 11, 2023
13th Annual Symposium
Are you ready for a smart and intellectually sophisticated spring fling? Although rough winds may yet shake the darling buds of May, the pandemic is so last season. As we re-focus on cutting-edge legal issues of importance to the fashion industry, in subject areas as diverse as IP and AI, global trade, consumer protection regulation and legislation, and of course dress itself, it is clear that we are in a moment of renewal and regrowth – and one that will have significant impact. Please join us in person on Friday, April 28, for the 13th annual Fashion Law Institute symposium, a full day’s bouquet of sharing and discussion!
DATE: April 28, 2023
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)
SPEAKERS:
- Sana Ahmed, The Fashion Law Africa Summit
- Claire Bing, Maesa
- Michael Busiashvili, OX Fine Jewelry
- Jana Checa Chong, Louis Vuitton
- Sindy Ding-Voorhees, Kilpatrick Townsend
- Ray DeForest/Doris Dear, award-winning drag icon/fashion influencer
- Caen Dennis, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan
- Julia Ensor, Federal Trade Commission
- Kristin Garris, McCarter & English
- David Horowitz, Media Coalition
- Sydney Kipen, Gucci
- Haley Macon, Endeavor
- John Maltbie, Louis Vuitton
- Walé Oyerinde, Atklás
- Ashley Pusey, Maureen Data Systems
- Tiffany Stevens, Jewelers Vigilance Committee
- Professor Susan Scafidi, Fashion Law Institute
- Jeff Trexler, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
- Caitlyn Walsh, Chanel
- Kenya Wiley, Georgetown University
- Sara Yood, Jewelers Vigilance Committee
PANELS:
9am
Continental breakfast
9:20am
Welcome: Budding thoughts
9:30-10:30am
Cross-pollination: Global trade issues, from diamonds to TikTok
10:45am-11:45am
Cuttings: Intellectual property at the U.S. Supreme Court
12-1pm
Lunch: Edible arrangements
1-2:15pm
New varieties: AI, NFTs, technology, and fashion
2:30-3:30pm
Green: New trends in legislation and regulation
3:45-4:45pm
Thorny problems: Gender-specific dress codes and anti-drag laws
5-6pm
Reception: Garden party
This event will not be livestreamed, but if we are able to record individual panels, we will share the links afterward.
Inside Out 8
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT AND REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED.
We look forward to seeing you at a future event!
Join us for our 8th annual panel featuring fashion's in-house counsel!
In-house counsel can rarely discuss their own cases or problems in public, but everyone is keeping an educated eye on others' issues. We've asked about the litigation, legislation, scandals, social issues, and other matters that our colleagues at fashion-related companies are glad are on someone else's desk and not their own, and we're eager to learn about what they're watching. Join us during New York Fashion Week for our 8th annual in-house counsel panel, "Inside Out 8: Fashion's in-house counsel shares schadenfreude"! This session will not be recorded.
DATE: Friday, February 10, 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
- Angie Byun, AB WORLD
- Lizzy Han, Chanel
- Ariel Sodomsky, Coty
- Nick Barnhorst, Fresh
- John Maltbie and Jana Checa Chong, Louis Vuitton
- 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.
Video: Designing Diversity
Thank you to our panelists and attendees at our virtual panel! The complete video of the panel is above. If you missed the panel, feel free to watch it here!
ATTORNEY CLE INFORMATION
If you are an attorney seeking continuing legal education credit from New York or a state with New York reciprocity, you have the opportunity to receive CLE credit by watching the panel Designing Diversity, on demand. At various points during the panel special codes are posted on the screen and closed captions for you to note on the attorney affirmation form. Email us with the completed form and we will send you a certificate of attendance. CLE material is available here.
DATE: Thursday, November 10, 2022
TIME: 6:00-7:15 pm
PLACE: Zoom
NYS CLE: 1.5 hours Ethics and Professionalism, transitional and non-transitional
SPEAKERS:
Peter D. Arnold, Fashion Scholarship Fund
Ifeoma Ike, Pink Cornrows
Colette Stanford, SPARC Group
Kenya Wiley, Georgetown University
MODERATOR:
Jeff Trexler, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund /
Professor of Fashion Ethics at Fordham Law
Designing Diversity after Affirmative Action CLE Material
Designing Diversity
Fashion appears to be on a path to greater racial diversity, from the runway to the boardroom. How can the industry continue this progress, however, if the U.S. Supreme Court invalidates affirmative action, a key civil rights tool for over 50 years? While the current cases arose in the educational context, with challenges to admissions policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard – and by extension, parallel policies at the majority of institutions of higher education across the country, including design schools – the potential impact is even broader. 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 soon be considered unconstitutional? Please join the Fashion Law Institute online for “Designing Diversity after Affirmative Action,” an advance discussion of legal and ethical strategies for promoting the full spectrum of style in light of the Court’s pending decision.
DATE: Thursday, November 10, 2022
TIME: 6:00-7:15 pm
PLACE: Zoom
NYS CLE: 1.5 hours Ethics and Professionalism, transitional and non-transitional
SPEAKERS:
Peter D. Arnold, Fashion Scholarship Fund
Ifeoma Ike, Pink Cornrows
Colette Stanford, SPARC Group
Kenya Wiley, Georgetown University
MODERATOR:
Jeff Trexler, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund /
Professor of Fashion Ethics at Fordham Law
Register now!
Due to the social significance of this topic, there is no required registration fee. Voluntary donations are welcome – and tax-deductible!
Video: Fashion Police
FASHION POLICE
Retail Ransacked: Theft on the Rise
&
Decency Exposed: The New Culture Wars
Thank you to our panelists and attendees at our in-person double header symposium! The complete videos of the panels are above. If you missed the panels, feel free to watch it here!
ATTORNEY CLE INFORMATION
If you are an attorney seeking continuing legal education credit from New York or a state with New York reciprocity, you have the opportunity to receive CLE credit by watching these panels from our 12th annual symposium, Fashion Police, on demand. Once you have registered below $55 (attorneys) or $45 (Bootcamp and Fordham alumni), simply email us with the completed attorney affirmation form and we will send you the link/password to the CLE materials. At various points during the session special codes are posted on the screen and closed captions for you to note on the form.
DATE: September 8, 2022
TIME: 9:00-11:45 am
PLACE: Costantino Room, 2nd Floor, Fordham Law School, 150 W. 62 St.
NYS CLE: 1.5 hours Professional Practice, 1.5 Diversity, Inclusion and Elimination of Bias, transitional and non-transitional
Retail Ransacked: Theft on the Rise speakers:
- Matthew Bauer, Madison Avenue Business Improvement District
- Christopher Hornig, Saks Off Fifth
- Estelle Strykers-Santiago, New York County District Attorney’s Office
- Ashley Valdes, Warby Parker
- MODERATOR: Professor Susan Scafidi, Fashion Law Institute at Fordham
Decency Exposed: The New Culture Wars speakers:
- Marilee Holmes, Save the Children
- Professor Kimberly Jenkins, The Fashion and Race Database and Artis Solomon Consulting
- Professor Susan Scafidi, Fashion Law Institute at Fordham
- MODERATOR: Jeff Trexler, Interim Director, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Press
Walmart Sneaker Theft, $225,000 Insider Heist Just the Tip of the Iceberg
Sourcing Journal, September 9, 2022
“Fashion Police” An Arresting Symposium at Fashion Law Institute
Look Online, September 9, 2022