European Fashion Law: A Practical Guide from Startup to Global Success
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First edition
The first edition of European Fashion Law was the first comprehensive guide to the legal issues affecting the fashion industry across Europe. It explored everything from intellectual property and branding to manufacturing, employment, advertising, e-commerce, and enforcement.
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Structured around the life cycle of a fashion business – from launch to international expansion – it offered accessible guidance on the practical legal challenges facing fashion professionals, with insights tailored to the unique complexity of operating across Europe.
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The book received critical acclaim for its clarity, practical approach, and breadth, and has become a go-to resource for lawyers, founders, students, and in-house teams across the fashion and luxury sectors.
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"This is the best industry-focussed legal textbook I’ve seen...The book is accessible, well-structured and highly relevant."
James Sweeting, Deputy General Counsel at Superdry Plc​​
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​​The Second Edition: What’s new?
The second edition builds on the success of the first by addressing the major shifts that have reshaped the fashion industry in recent years.
It includes:
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New chapters on digital fashion, NFTs, and sustainability
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Updated content on the post-Brexit legal landscape in the UK and EU
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Expanded guidance on influencer marketing, licensing, and e-commerce
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Practical tools to help navigate legal risks and opportunities in a fast-changing global market
Whether you’re advising a fashion brand, working in-house, or just starting out, the second edition is your up-to-date guide to fashion law in a European context.
Critical acclaim for the first edition of European Fashion Law: A practical guide from startup to global success
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'This is the best industry-focussed legal textbook I’ve seen. Rosie covers a lot of ground and navigates complex areas of law in plain English. The book is accessible, well-structured and highly relevant.'
– James Sweeting, Senior IP Counsel, Superdry PLC
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‘A refreshingly insightful overview of the legal challenges and opportunities facing fashion businesses operating today in Europe. It condenses vast realms of information into digestible and practical summaries, all written in a modern and commercial voice that enthuses passion for this fabulous industry.’
– Head of Legal, at a well known online fashion business
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'This is a wonderfully comprehensive look at fashion law, covering IP and other legal rights together with business and other practical concerns (such as—“how do I begin”?). The author’s treatment of fashion technology is novel and particularly welcome. Altogether, a must-have, must-read for anyone who deals with the fashion industry.'
– Neil Wilkof, Dr Eyal Bressler & Co, Israel
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'Rosie Burbidge’s European Fashion Law is a joy to read. The book manages to achieve the impossible: technical precision, consideration of several key areas, and an informative and humorous tone. Irrespective of their professional background, readers will find this work a fantastic companion for their exploration of the increasingly complex world of fashion law: it's a must-have!'
– Eleonora Rosati, University of Stockholm, Sweden
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The Reviews
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Carina Gommers in the Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice:
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Rosie Burbidge provides an excellent overview of different aspects of fashion law in a European context. ...
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I recommend readers, and in particular those who are planning to work in or for the fashion industry, to go out and buy the book to get acquainted with and/or further educated on all aspects of fashion law.
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Hayleigh Bosher writing for IPKat says:
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...It will no doubt be a welcome resource to any student of law interested in moving into the fashion industry as well as fashion students. The structure and presentation of the book also makes it a valuable and easily accessible for fashion start-ups, early fashion businesses and students in fashion, design, or retail.
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There's a five star review on Amazon from Elizabeth Robson Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers and Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”
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...​If you happen to be a lawyer acting for clients within the fashion industry, this is the book to buy, or to recommend enthusiastically to said clients, especially if they are starting up, or branching out.​
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This is typical of the plain-speaking, hard-headed advice that Burbidge doles out to the reader, as page after page from beginning to end, the main legal issues that all fashion businesses need to be aware of, are plainly set out, together with what the author calls, ‘the best (and worst) approaches and examples from the legal front line.’...
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Burbidge’s book, however, is singularly important, in that legal texts about the European fashion industry are all too rare. Independent practitioners and in-house lawyers, as well as their clients, will doubtless regard this book as essential and well-nigh compulsory reading, although the author has warned in effect that while a legal text is helpful, it cannot replace proper legal advice.
