Fashion Law society team offers a community space where two fields unite 

President of the Fashion Law Society Emelia Thompson, 21, says one class in the bachelor of commerce and fashion management program inspired her to start the club.

“I really enjoyed learning about fashion law in my fashion industry analysis class with professor Francesca D’Angelo. I wanted to create a club where this topic could be more explored, and educate people,” she says. 

Thompson is in her final year, and is thinking of enrolling in law school after graduation.

She says there’s legal aspects to everything in life for better or for worse, and fashion law is not an exception.

“What I find the most interesting about fashion law is how much goes into it, especially for beginner designers and how important it is to legally protect their designs in this age of dupes and copyright infringement. There’s many legal aspects when it comes to fashion like trademarks, patents, intellectual property, sustainability legislation, employment, and trade agreements. This is where law and fashion meet,” she says. 

The Fashion Law Society has 20 members. Meetings are held once a week in the Fashion institute or other spaces on Lakeshore campus. In their socials, they tackle timely cases involving fashion law and fashion trends. An example of a fashion law case addressed by the society is Rolex V.La Californienne, a 2019 filed case in which Rolex: Luxury Watch Manufacturers was the plaintiff, and La Californienne: Luxury Watch customizers was the defendant.

Rolex alleged that American Luxury Watch Customizer, La Californienne, were participating in trademark infringement, false description and representation, etc. The ruling was decided a year later, with La Californienne permanently prohibited from using or reproducing any Rolex trademark.

Last January, the society hosted an intellectual property law workshop in collaboration with the Humber Legal association, where they explored intellectual property protections in fashion with guest speaker Alessia Monastero, a lawyer and trademark agent

Thompson says one of her favorite things about studying at Humber is how easy it can be to start a student club. 

“This is one of the reasons I love studying at Humber. Ignite makes it easy to start your own club no matter what you’re interested in.Also, to other students thinking of creating their own clubs, I guarantee there would be people who share that same interest, it is just a matter of finding them,” she says. 

Thompson says all Humber students interested in fashion law can join the society. 

“All students are open to join, not just students in fashion and law oriented programs, anyone is welcomed. We have a wide variety of students from different degrees, whoever is interested and wants to join is more than welcomed to see what it is all about, “she says. 

Fashion Law Society Vice-president Claire Bobert, 21, is also in her final year in the bachelor of commerce and fashion management. 

Bobert says she has been friends with Thompson since their first year, and wanted to do something extracurricular they both enjoyed. 

“We both wanted to do something fun together. I didn’t know much about law before, but Emelia is so passionate about it and I love fashion, so I wanted to support her in creating this club,” she says.  
 
Bobert says her favourite part of being vice president is having a sense of community. 

“A lot of people in the fashion management program are in the club, so it gives us another thing to connect on. It is also really interesting, because we react to situations at the moment. Fashion is so dynamic, and we see how things change with technology and how that affects legal aspects, “ she says. 

 Learn more about the Fashion Law Society, their upcoming events , and relevant fashion law cases at: https://humberfashionlawso.wixsite.com.