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Fashion Collaborations

What have we seen so far? What’s to come? And what do brands need to think about when it comes to IP?

We all love a good fashion collaboration and it is even more exciting when it is two (or even three) unexpected brands working together.

We are only three months into the year and there are already some great ones to note:

Gucci x Adidas

• Debuted at Milan Fashion Week in February, as part of the Fall/Winter 2022 collection.
• Tailoring mixed with athleisure.
• Three stripes mixed with GG monogram print - key trade marks of both brands.

Gap x Yeezy (engineered by Balenciaga)

• High street meets celebrity (Kanye West) meets luxury fashion.
• A new logo was created on behalf of both brands especially for the collaboration owned by both Gap and Kanye West’s holding company. As you can see, the logo consists of the letters YZY in the same font and colourway as Gap’s logo trade mark.

Greggs x Primark

• Wait, what? Yes, that’s correct. Greggs, one of the most well-known bakeries in the UK formed a surprising partnership with Primark to enter the clothing space.
• Customers can purchase headgear, footwear and clothing (including the ‘iconic sausage roll tee’).
• In order to prepare for this launch, Greggs filed a new UK trade mark application for a series of logo marks in Classes 9 (phone accessories), 16 (paper goods) and 25 (clothing) in light of the expanded product range.

Dior x Technogym

• Dior has expanded into the athleisure and fitness space.
• In collaboration with Technogym, they have created both fitness clothing and equipment - a rather glamorous way to work out.
• This is a limited edition collaboration and exclusive to various Dior pop-up stores globally.

Burberry x Supreme

• The most recent collaboration.
• Supreme are notorious for limited releases that are quick to sell out, with resellers reselling for a premium on online marketplaces.

Key Points to Think About for Brands Before Launching Collaborations

Brands may wish to consider reviewing their existing trade mark protection to ensure that they cover the extended product and / or service range, or take steps to ensure that this is in place prior to launch.

Consider ownership of any new branding, particularly where it incorporates trade marks of both brands. Should the new trade mark be in joint ownership of both parties and a have a separate agreement to deal with what happens to the trade mark when the collaboration has ended / been terminated? Or is it more appropriate to set up a separate entity for the purposes of owning IP rights for the collaboration, especially where this is long term.

What’s to Come?

For those of you who are interested in what’s to come in the world of fashion collaborations, here are two more for you:

Telfar x Eastpak

• Two popular bag brands.
• Telfar was the 2020 ‘it’ bag, known for its limited releases and customers eagerly awaiting restocks of their range of bags in wonderful colourways.
• This is a collaboration with a twist: ‘blind pre-orders’ - so consumers cannot view the bag before purchasing!
• The first release is expected today.

Dior x Birkenstock

• A somewhat unexpected collaboration - felt and floral coming to you in June 2022.

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