Fashion law for brands, agencies and models

Fashion law for fashion companies, brands, agencies and professional models

Quick start: what is your matter about?

Your contact: Jean Paul P. Bohne, LL.M., MM

Partner, certified specialist lawyer for copyright and media law and for IT law (Fachanwalt für Urheber- und Medienrecht, Fachanwalt für IT-Recht).

Send fashion law enquiry

What happens after your enquiry?

After your enquiry, we get back to you within 24 hours on working days. The first contact is free of charge. If costs arise, we tell you so explicitly beforehand.

1. A short description is enough. Describe the collection, campaign or conflict. Designs, contracts, image material and planned claims are helpful.
2. Receipt and initial sorting. We assess the enquiry on the basis of the project described, the documents and the apparent goal. Deadlines and dates should be clearly recognisable.
3. Suitable starting point and cost range. We clarify whether an initial consultation, a service package or a specific mandate is the next step. As soon as the scope of the review is clear, we tell you the cost range – before work begins.

Typical cases from our practice

The following scenarios are abstracted and simplified. Which solution holds up always depends on the specific facts and the contractual situation.

What you will have at the end

When fashion law becomes business-critical in the fashion business

Fashion law is usually no longer a side issue when design, indication of origin, campaign image and distribution become public at the same time.

At exactly this moment, loose template contracts or a late trade mark application are often no longer sufficient. Even before the first drop, name conflicts, unclear rights to prints, imprecise clearances for photo and video use or unsupported sustainability statements can trigger later conflicts.

• a new brand, sub-line or collaboration is to be secured before market launch
• a collection works with striking shapes, patterns, prints or recognisable design elements
• models, photographers, agencies, stylists or creators supply material for a campaign
• image and video content is to run in parallel on the website, shop, marketplaces, in ads and in press contexts
• an online shop, platform distribution or international licence or distribution line is being built
• a competitor takes over design, sign, campaign idea or product proximity
• artificial intelligence is used for designs, moodboards, campaign visuals, avatars or synthetic models

Typical misconception

Many fashion businesses treat intellectual property rights, contracts, campaign clearances and platform distribution as separate individual fields. In practice, however, it is precisely the interplay of these building blocks that decides whether a launch runs smoothly or is blocked shortly before publication.

What should be clarified first before a launch, drop or campaign start

The most expensive mistakes often arise in the weeks before the first public appearance.

Name, logo and series names

It must be checked whether the brand, product name, capsule collection or claim is free to use at all and in which goods and services logic protection is to be built up.

• conflict check before publication
• protection strategy for main and secondary brands
• alignment with domain, shop and social handles

Design and visibility

Not every shape or pattern requires the same protection logic. Decisive are recognition value, novelty, time of publication and the actual market role of the design.

• selection of models and variants worth protecting
• timing before trade fair, lookbook or shop release
• documentation of design stages and disclosures

Chain of rights and clearances

Photos, videos, sounds, illustrations, prints, model use and creator assets must be robustly cleared across channels before scaling.

• scope of use, territories and terms
• editing, retouching, archiving and reposts
• clearance processes for website, ads, press and retailer communication

In depth at ITMR: trade mark law, registering a trade mark, design law, registering a design, licensing and rights clearance and image and photo law.

Intellectual property rights for brands, collections and signature elements

In fashion law, a single intellectual property right is rarely enough. The position usually only becomes viable through the right staggering of several protection paths.

For names, logos, series signs and other indications of origin, the law of signs is regularly the first axis. For visible design, design protection and, in individual cases, copyright may apply. In the case of imitations without a strong registered right, competition law can also become relevant.

Trade mark

The trade mark protects above all indications of origin: brand names, logos, series names, sometimes slogans and other signs understood in the market as attributable to a company.

The official starting point is Section 14 of the Act on the Protection of Trade Marks and other Signs (opens in a new tab). For registration, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (opens in a new tab) in particular and, for EU-wide strategies, the European Union Intellectual Property Office are relevant.

Design

Design protection is linked to outward appearance. In fashion in particular, this can be the commercially stronger protection path for distinctive shapes, patterns, surfaces or graphic elements.

Timing is important. For registered rights, early planning is regularly wiser than later rescue. The German Patent and Trade Mark Office (opens in a new tab) explains registration. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (opens in a new tab) also explains the logic of the unregistered EU design, which can play a role particularly in fast-moving industries.

Copyright

Copyright can apply to sufficiently original designs, but does not automatically protect fashion. Basics, obvious variants or mere trend adaptations in particular often do not hold up under copyright alone.

For prints, graphic elements, campaign motifs and collaborative creative work, it nevertheless remains important, because questions of work quality, co-authorship, adaptation and grant of rights quickly become commercial there.

Competition law

In the case of product proximity, exploitation of reputation or avoidable deception as to origin, relevant protection against imitations can exist even without a strong registered right. This is particularly important if registered protection was not built up in time or only covers partial aspects.

In depth at ITMR: competition law, advertising law and marketing law.

Note on the reform

The first stage of the EU design reform has applied since 1 May 2025. The EU law reform is already in force. The new Directive on the legal protection of designs must be transposed into national law by 9 December 2027. For companies with a European distribution logic, terminology and protection strategy should therefore no longer be based on the old position.

Suitable ITMR in-depth pages: design law, registering a design, trade mark law, registering a trade mark, copyright law and industrial property protection.

Contracts with designers, photographers, models, creators and agencies

The best intellectual property rights are of little help if the chain of rights remains contractually unclear.

Especially in the fashion business, in-house teams, freelance designers, production partners, photographers, videographers, models, agencies and creators often work on a project in parallel. It must therefore be clarified early on who creates what, who grants which rights, which edits are permitted and how far campaign material may actually be used.

What contracts should regularly regulate

• specific scopes of work and acceptance logic
• purposes of use, media, channels, territories and terms
• exclusivity, clearances, holdback periods and competition issues
• editing, cropping, retouching, archiving and reposts
• liability, indemnification and proof of the chain of rights
• handling of raw data, samples and behind-the-scenes material

Particularly delicate in campaigns

• distinction between production day and later advertising use
• separation between organic use and paid ads
• international exploitation on platforms and marketplaces
• rights to short clips, excerpts and later season extensions
• use in press work, lookbooks, investor materials and retailer communication
• use of artificially generated or heavily edited visuals

Practical point

A model or talent contract should not just mention “social media”. Relevant for companies are regularly website, shop, marketplaces, newsletter, lookbook, catalogue, outdoor advertising, press materials, retailer communication, paid ads, archive use and later reuse in new seasons or regions.

Within ITMR, the main in-depth pages here are image and photo law, copyright law, licensing, social media law, influencer law and, for genuine employment models, employment law for companies.

Campaigns, image use and sustainability claims

In fashion, high visibility, short cycles and strong advertising dynamics meet an environment particularly prone to warning letters.

Problems rarely arise because of a single sentence. Usually it is because image use, product presentation, claim and exploitation channel are not coordinated. This applies to model and talent images as well as to statements of origin, material descriptions, sustainability promises or creator collaborations.

Image use and personality rights

For the advertising use of portraits, the specific purpose of use matters. General clearances are often not sufficient, particularly for cross-channel delivery, international campaigns and later repurposing.

The legal starting point is Section 22 of the Act on Copyright in Works of Fine Art and Photography (opens in a new tab). Contractual and media law questions are added as soon as advertising, press reference and platform-related exploitation converge.

Claims, origin and greenwashing

Vague or abbreviated statements that appear in the market as established facts but are not robustly supported internally are particularly risky. This concerns material information, recycled content, origin, supply chain statements and terms such as “climate neutral”.

For the current German line, the press release of the Federal Court of Justice on advertising with “climate neutral” (opens in a new tab) is an important reference point. In addition, EU requirements for environmental communication will be tightened further in the coming years.

Practical note

In fashion campaigns in particular, visuals, texts and creator assets are adjusted at short notice. Anyone who does not organise internal clearance loops properly easily produces contradictions between landing page, product detail page, social clip, newsletter and press delivery.

Suitable ITMR in-depth pages: image and photo law, advertising law, competition law, marketing law, product advertising and claims, press law and the article BGH: climate neutral can be misleading.

E-commerce, platforms and international exploitation

Today, fashion is rarely sold only in physical stores. Shop, marketplace, social commerce and international cooperation interlock.

This increases the requirements for product communication, platform terms, retailer structures, rights of use and speed of response to copies or listing conflicts. Anyone selling fashion digitally therefore needs good intellectual property rights and equally clean enforcement and contract logic.

• review platform and marketplace terms before the roll-out
• coordinate product texts, claims and image series across channels
• set up contract logic between brand, agency, retailer and licensee properly
• prepare listing, takedown and notice-and-action scenarios
• consider parallel imports, keyword use and product copies early
• coordinate registration, evidence and chain of rights for international marketing

At ITMR, this links above all to e-commerce, licensing, trade mark law, design law, preliminary injunction and defending against warning letters.

Artificial intelligence, digital fashion and synthetic campaigns

Digital product development accelerates moodboards, patterns, campaign visuals and virtual showrooms. Legally, however, this does not automatically simplify their use.

In particular, the protectability of the generated results, the origin and permissibility of training or reference data, the terms of use of the tools used, trade mark and design references, personality rights, contractual clearances and transparency obligations for artificially generated or manipulated content must be reviewed.

Legally open and therefore in need of review

The protectability of purely AI-generated designs cannot be affirmed across the board. Decisive factors include human influence, the data basis used, tool terms, third-party rights and the specific context of exploitation. Anyone working with absolute statements here regularly promises too much.

An official reference point is Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 on artificial intelligence (opens in a new tab). Anyone using synthetic image, audio or video content should also consider the transparency obligations for artificially generated or manipulated content. At ITMR, the main in-depth pages here are AI law, metaverse law, image and photo law and the article Copyright in AI images and AI-generated logos.

When you need us

When a conflict is already visible, what counts is not the longest statement but the right legal basis, preservation of evidence and the appropriate level of escalation.

Product copy or conspicuous design similarity

It must be examined whether trade mark, design, copyright or competition law is the main basis and whether a platform measure, warning letter or urgent proceedings make commercial sense.

Unauthorised campaign use

With photos, moving images, creator assets or model images, it is often simultaneously about rights of use, consents, contractual scope, personality rights and the speed of removal.

Claims, labelling and warning letter risk

If a sustainability or advertising claim is challenged, it must be quickly clarified what is actually supported, which channels are affected and whether correction, defence or an immediate change of communication is required.

Agency, talent or collaboration dispute

Typical are conflicts over exclusivity, buy-out, revenue participation, clearances, follow-on use, non-compete clauses or the question of whether material may continue to be exploited after the end of the contract.

Rapid first measure

First secure evidence: screenshots, publication times, product detail pages, contracts, clearances, raw files, design stages and communication histories. Especially with launches, trade fair dates or ongoing campaigns, late preservation can later do more damage than the actual infringement.

Further at ITMR: trade mark law, design law, copyright law, preliminary injunction, trade mark litigation, Adidas v. Thom Browne and Influencer v. online fashion company.

Fashion law advice at ITMR

When intellectual property rights, campaigns, contracts and digital exploitation converge, a robust sequence is needed rather than a loose case-by-case answer with a commercial focus.

For mandates at the interfaces of trade marks, design, content, campaign and technology, the relevant contacts at ITMR are in particular Jean Paul P. Bohne, LL.M., MM, Emma-Marie Kürsch and, for e-commerce, social and platform matters, Otto Weidenkeller.

Typical occasions for a mandate

Launch of a new brand, product copy, disputed campaign use, model or talent contract, review of sustainability claims, marketplace conflict, digital collection, synthetic models, due diligence questions or a chain of rights that must become robust before financing, distribution or press work.

Further protection topics: Trade mark law, registering a trade mark, design law, registering a design, copyright law

Further campaign and communication questions: Image and photo law, advertising law, competition law, marketing law, social media law, influencer law

Further digital and distribution topics: E-commerce, AI law, metaverse law, licensing, product advertising and claims

Continue to discuss a fashion law mandate and view further practice areas.

Key terms

Fashion law

Legal interfaces around fashion, brands and campaigns.

Signature element

Recognisable design feature of a brand.

Chain of rights

Complete sequence of rights to designs, images and content.

Greenwashing

Misleading environmental or sustainability advertising.

Drop

Time-limited release of a collection.

These terms explain the language used on this page. What matters is always the specific individual case.

Provisions and reliable sources

The following statutory provisions and regulations are cited on this page.

Articles from our blog on fashion law

These articles use well-known cases to show how trade marks and designs are protected in the fashion industry.

Frequently asked questions on fashion law

The following answers provide a robust initial framework for typical mandate situations in the fashion industry.

Fashion law with a view to the business