As a designer, how can you protect your brand at New York Fashion Week? And if you’re a fashion law attorney, what steps should you take to minimize your clients’ risks and liability on and off the runway?

In this episode, we sit down with fashion law attorney Daniel Bellizio. Daniel has represented some of the most creative names in fashion, including Off-White and the late Virgil Abloh.

Daniel shares why contracts are critical during fashion week shows and why a sign with a photo and video disclaimer may not protect the brand from a lawsuit.

This also marks the first New York Fashion Week since the New York State Fashion Workers Act went into effect. We explore what this means for brands and designers — from new compliance requirements to protect models, covering compensation, breaks and liability insurance to issues around AI and digital replicas, both here in New York and the NO FAKES Act in Congress.

This is essential listening for brands and designers showing at fashion weeks this month and all fashion law enthusiasts.

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Interested in breaking into fashion law? And for designers showing at New York Fashion Week, how will you protect your brand?

Howard Hogan, a partner at Gibson Dunn and chair of his firm's Consumer and Retail practice group, joins us to discuss the third edition of Fashion Law and Business: Brands and Retailers. We'll dive into the key updates in Howard’s fashion law book — from IP developments around AI to his new chapter on environmental law and sustainability.

Howard also breaks down how brands can minimize their risk when showing at New York Fashion Week this month — especially when it comes to IP protection and partnerships with celebrities and content creators. Plus, Howard shares his four-part strategy for law students and new associates looking to break into fashion law.

Purchase Fashion Law and Business: Brands and Retailers (Third Edition), 20% discount code for e-book and print book

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What does synthetic biology have to do with the fashion industry? How is AI connected to energy, government policy and the cost of goods?

In this episode, applied innovation expert Barry McGeough shares his solution for fashion to deal with its current challenges: Get out of our bubble!

Barry has led applied innovation for the biggest names in fashion and tech — including The North Face, PVH, parent company for Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and Google.

Barry shares so many gems with our listeners, including how material informatics is connected to AI in fashion, why ethical AI is essential, and how startups will drive the industry forward during these transformative times.

Connect with Barry McGeough on LinkedIn.

Read Barry’s article for The Robin Report on Warnings and Revelations About AI.

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Step into the dynamic intersection of fashion, technology, and entertainment with LA-based IP Attorney Almuhtada Smith. Our conversation comes at a crucial time as AI innovation reshapes creative industries and Los Angeles prepares for the 2028 Olympics.

After working in Big Law for several years, Almuhtada started his own firm, ARS Counsel — Strategic Counsel for Innovators and Creatives. He's represented trailblazers in fashion and tech, including a recent collaboration with his client Cointel and legendary filmmaker Spike Lee. Almuhtada graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Morehouse College and received his J.D. from UCLA School of Law, where he served as chief managing editor of the Entertainment Law Review.

In this episode, Almuhtada takes us behind the scenes of the collab between Cointel and Spike Lee. He also breaks down IP issues beyond registration that fashion and tech entrepreneurs should be thinking about when participating in accelerator programs, and why founders need independent legal representation — even when programs provide attorneys. And as the tech policy landscape continues to evolve, Almuhtada explains how AI is revolutionizing entertainment and retail, and makes the case for legislation that ensures ethical AI use while allowing for small businesses to compete in the space.

Plus, Almuhtada shares his insights on how third-year law students and recent graduates can secure a position in fashion law and entertainment in the current legal market.

This episode is a must-listen for designers, tech startups and law school students — especially in the current legal market.

Connect with Almuhtada on LinkedIn and Instagram

Learn more about ARS Counsel: website, LinkedIn and Instagram

Read Almuhtada’s Bloomberg Law piece on IP reparations for Black artists.

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OpenAI recently launched GPT-5 — the latest model for the company's AI chatbot ChatGPT, even as debate continues over whether the update delivers on promises of PhD-level capabilities. This development underscores the critical importance of understanding how generative AI is transforming industries worldwide, including fashion.

In this remix episode, we explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping fashion law through a curated selection of our most insightful conversations. We examine the legal and policy challenges emerging from generative AI tools used in fashion design, marketing, and merchandising.

The episode features three key discussions: first, insights from Derrick Brent, former Deputy Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; followed by perspectives from Naomi Lefkovitz, former privacy policy advisor at the Commerce Department; and concluding with entertainment and technology attorney Jonathan Handel's analysis of the bipartisan AI Accountability and Personal Data Protection Act, introduced by Senators Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal in July 2025.

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For months now, a critical question has been playing out in the courts, the Copyright Office and Congress: When tech companies use large amounts of copyrighted works to train their AI models without permission or payment to the copyright holders, is that fair use or illegal infringement?

And why should fashion — an industry that has traditionally relied more on trademark law than copyright protection — care about the latest copyright debate?

In this episode, entertainment and technology attorney Jonathan Handel examines why the AI copyright battle matters to fashion and entertainment creatives, covering legal and policy developments across all three branches of the federal government — including the bipartisan AI Accountability and Personal Data Protection Act by Senators Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal.

Fashion brands and retailers are already using AI for design and marketing campaigns — while their own content gets swept up in AI training data. Jonathan explains why the fashion industry should be concerned about the AI copyright debate, and shares his solution for bringing all stakeholders together.

Connect with Jonathan Handel on LinkedIn and Instagram

Visit Jonathan’s website here

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Purchase Jonathan’s book

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In 1987, New York City created the Special Garment Center District to keep designers and manufacturers together in the heart of Manhattan. Now, nearly four decades later, the same city commission that created this protection is trying to tear it down. On June 18th, the New York City Planning Commission voted to eliminate the special zoning and open the door to residential development in what remains the heart of New York's fashion capital.

Today, we're joined by Johnathan Hayden — a womenswear designer based in the Garment District — to share his story and discuss how the Midtown South Mixed-Use (MSMX) plan would impact his career and New York's entire fashion ecosystem. Proximity is fashion power. As Johnathan explains, “the Garment District is the only place in America where the distance between an idea and its execution is within walking distance.”

Is the MSMX plan really about affordable housing, or does it benefit luxury developers while leaving fashion as collateral damage alongside the arts, Lincoln Center and Broadway?

As the plan moves closer to a City Council vote, Johnathan shares concrete ways to save and support the Garment District in the days ahead. All links and resources are below.

Sign the petition to protect NYC's Garment District!

Visit the New York Fashion Workforce Development Coalition's site for more on the MSMX plan and fashion.

Connect with Johnathan Hayden on Instagram and LinkedIn.

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We're continuing our conversation with Elmar Stroomer, Founder of Africa Collect Textiles and Sarah Njau, Managing Director of GFS East Africa. In this episode, Sarah and Elmar dive deeper into practical solutions for both textile waste and the overall environmental impact of producing apparel in Kenya for American brands. We also discuss the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) — a trade preference program with the U.S. and certain African countries — and examine how U.S.-based startups in textile-to-textile recycling can help tackle both post-production and post-consumer textile waste.

We address critical questions for U.S.-based fashion brands and startups: How can American brands producing in Kenya collaborate to handle their post-production waste more sustainably? Why should textile-to-textile recycling startups expand their operations to Kenya, and how can they do it effectively?

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Africa Collect Textiles Website

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The fashion industry faces major changes following President Trump's signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 4th, just one day after Congress passed the sweeping budget and tax legislation. In this episode, Suited host Kenya Wiley — former Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee — examines how this new law will impact the business of fashion across three critical areas: trade policy and sourcing, climate and environmental law, and higher education for fashion design and law students.

The legislation creates ripple effects throughout fashion’s supply chain, affecting everyone from independent designers and major brands and retailers, to ecommerce companies, apparel manufacturers, shippers, and the farmers who provide raw materials. Kenya breaks down these complex policy changes into actionable insights for industry professionals navigating this new landscape.

The episode concludes with powerful remarks from Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who delivered the longest floor speech in House history in efforts to delay the bill's passage.

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Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles are expanding worldwide — from France and the EU to Kenya, the Netherlands and California. But implementing EPR isn't just about government policy; it's also funding and infrastructure needed for textile collection, sorting, and recycling. In this episode of Suited, we explore how circular fashion must operate within a dual market. Take Kenya, for example — a country that Business Insider Africa reported in March 2025 is the largest importer of second-hand clothes in Africa. Here, textile waste streams from two different sources — local apparel manufacturing for both domestic consumption and export, and the secondhand clothing trade.

Joining us are Sarah Njau, Managing Director of GFS East Africa, and Elmar Stroomer, Founder of Africa Collect Textiles. Together, we tackle critical questions: When does secondhand clothing become textile waste? What happens to fabric offcuts from factories in Kenya producing garments for global brands? And how do we go from EPR policy to building infrastructure in the regions most impacted by textile waste?

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Africa Collect Textiles Website

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