Fashion & Beauty
The Australian fashion and beauty sector has a market size of over $20 billion, close to 50,000 businesses and employs over 100,000. As a full service commercial law firm, Hall & Wilcox has a dedicated team with extensive experience working with Australian and international fashion and beauty brands.
Our team is well placed to help clients overcome the challenges and embrace the opportunities presented in this evolving and dynamic industry.
Whether your business is fashion, fragrance, hair care, cosmetics or jewellery, our expert team provide effective solutions across the fashion and beauty sector, including:
- Corporate and commercial including mergers and acquisitions, commercial contracts, joint ventures and shareholders arrangements
- Competition and consumer law
- Complex licensing
- Cyber
- Distribution and franchising
- Data protection and security
- Defamation
- Ecommerce agreements
- Employment and labour law
- Environmental Social and Governance (ESG)
- Exporting and distribution
- Franchising
- Intellectual property, including trademark, copyright, patent strategies, development, protection and enforcement
- Internet, e-commerce and social media
- Insolvency and restructuring
- Insurance
- Litigation and dispute resolution
- Payment technologies
- Real estate leasing and real estate transactions
- Regulatory and compliance
- Strategic sourcing and outsourcing
- Supply chain
- Transport and trade
- Tax
Experience
- Advising an Italian luxury fashion house on a joint venture agreement with an Australian distributor and retailer of high-end fashion. We acted on all aspects of the matter including early stage planning and structure advice, all transaction documents including the joint venture agreement, shareholder arrangements, distribution agreements, finance documents, and leasing arrangements. We also provided advice on confidentiality and protection of intellectual property. This matter was extremely important as it was the first joint venture that this high end luxury brand has ever undertaken globally as it ordinarily establishes owner operated stores in other jurisdiction.
- Advising the world's 12th largest cosmetics company Amorepacific on its investment in Australian luxury skincare brand Rationale.
- Advising fashion labels on IP rights associated with digital fashion and the metaverse.
- Extensive experience managing trade mark portfolios, opposition proceedings including Chinese-based oppositions and counterfeit products seizure proceedings.
- Reviewing Sustainability Claims relating to various products and advising on compliance and greenwashing risks.
- Preparing leasing documentation for commercial, industrial and retail tenants including RM Williams. This included reviewing landlord based documents, advising on material issues, drafting amendments and negotiating the same with the landlord’s solicitors.
- Advised leading essential oil supplier Australian Botanical Products on its acquisition by IXOM, a multinational water treatment and chemical distribution company. Advised on all legal aspects of the transaction, including drafting all transaction documents, negotiating terms and assisting with completion and post-completion matters.
- Assisting various fashion labels with social media management and defamation claims.
- Advising numerous companies with developing ESGs within the necessary regulatory frame work.
- Managing the trade mark filing programs for globally recognised brands, including advising on availability of names to preparing global filing strategies.
- Assisting a world-renowned high fashion brand with documenting supply and distribution arrangements in Australia.
- Managing the leasing portfolio of Priceline throughout Australia.
- Assisting Priceline and Priceline Pharmacy with franchise agreement preparation for individual pharmacy businesses.
- Advising an Australian luxury cosmetics brand (skin, hair and body products business), on its warehousing and distribution arrangements in Hong Kong and subsequently in Australia.
- Acting for a high profile Australian fashion designer and design company, in proceedings brought against them by an iconic national department store in the Supreme Court of Victoria seeking to restrain them from taking their fashion label to another leading national department store, contrary to an exclusivity agreement. The matter settled on terms which, amongst other things, entitled the branded merchandise to be supplied in both department stores – an industry first.
- Working with local customs officers to register customs notices in Europe, the United Kingdom and China. This involved identifying counterfeit products when required.
- Advising a number of clients in the retail/FMCG sector on modern slavery and human rights due diligence processes and training.
- Acting for Moelis Asset Management in relation to the establishment of its new $300 million significant investor fund, which acquired the Healesville Walk Shopping Centre
- Acting for the private sector owners of the Casey Shopping Centre and Waverley Gardens Shopping Centre in relation to tenancies at these complexes.
- Acting on the proposed IPO of Pacific REIT, a project for the acquisition of numerous shopping centres in Victoria and New South Wales.
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The e-commerce revolution: a discussion with retail leaders who transformed the shopfront
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Key contacts
Jacqui Barrett
Partner & Head of US Desk
Jacqui assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, corporate structuring, capital raisings and managed investment schemes.
John Gray
Partner and NSW Government Co-Lead
John is a corporate lawyer specialising in technology and IP law, particularly for IT, telecommunications and media clients.
Nicole Tumiati
Partner & Retail & Consumer Goods Leader
Nicole has over 20 years' experience as a corporate & commercial lawyer, both in Australia and the United Kingdom.
Our team
Related thinking
Fashion & Beauty| 15 Dec 2023
Fashion fraudsters exposed: the battle against domain spoofing
Certain kinds of scams are becoming increasingly common for brand owners within the retail and fashion industries. From email to website spoofing, we examine the rising threats to these industries.
Fashion & Beauty| 29 May 2023
Strengthening the fight against modern slavery: recommendations from the statutory review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018
John McMillan AO has completed his independent review of the first three years of operation of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth). We unpack the recommendations aimed at strengthening the existing legislation and enhancing corporate Australia’s response to this pervasive issue.
Fashion & Beauty| 15 Dec 2022
Tis the season… to review your customer returns policy
In the next article in our series that focuses on the main legal issues the fashion and beauty sectors should consider in the lead-up to the holiday season, we provide guidance on customer returns over the festive period.
Fashion & Beauty| 09 Dec 2022
Tis the season… to host a fun and safe end-of-year party
Next up in our series exploring the top legal issues the fashion and beauty sectors, we discuss what employers should be aware of when hosting end-of year functions for their employees.
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