Clothing laws vary widely around the world. In most countries, there are no laws that dictate what clothes should be worn. However, community standards for clothing are set indirectly through the persecution of those who wear something that is not socially recognized. People who wear inadequate clothing can be prosecuted in many countries for various crimes called indecent exposure, public indecency, nudity or other descriptions. In general, these crimes do not themselves define what is acceptable clothing and what does not justify the crime, leaving it to a judge to decide in each case. Law as a science must adapt to new challenges. Due to social, economic and technical growth, society and, consequently, the law are facing new difficulties that must be regulated by law. Fashion has always been part of everyday life, but recently a new legal discipline has been created due to the advent of intellectual property rights and various problems in economics and other areas of law. This article is an introduction to fashion law. In the first part, the history of fashion is analyzed, and the term is divided into three main categories. In the second part, the article presents fashion as a legal discipline, its creator and the main topics of fashion law that fashion law currently deals with.
In general, exposure of the head, upper chest and limbs is legal and considered socially acceptable, except for certain religious communities. There are three jurisdictions in the United Kingdom (England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). There are three other jurisdictions that depend on the Crown (the Isle of Man, the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey). The details of the law on public nudity differ considerably between them. In general, nudity is not an explicit crime, but there are various crimes that may apply to nudity in inappropriate circumstances. What constitutes inappropriate circumstances depends on jurisdiction, but nudity is legal in a much wider range of circumstances than many people assume. In addition to intellectual property law, fashion law also has a solid foundation in business law. Fashion law consists of several legal disciplines. Some of these areas include licensing (where the designer, licensee grants a licensee permission to use their intellectual property rights), competition law, human rights laws (issues related to abuse of labor in factories), labor law, and others. The term „sumptuary law“ has been used as a pejorative term to describe any control of consumption by the state, whether based on moral, religious, health or public safety concerns. U.S. Judge Thomas M.
Cooley has generally described their modern form as laws that „replace legislative judgment with that of the owner, in terms of how he should use and use his property.“ [57] The guidelines to which the term has been critically applied include the prohibition of alcohol,[58] the prohibition of drugs,[59] the prohibition of smoking,[60][61][62][63] and restrictions on dog fighting. [64] In some countries, topless or non-sexual nudity is legal. However, private or public institutions may establish a dress code that requires visitors to wear prescribed clothing. Fashion designers and fashion products, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries, began to be closer to the „average“ consumer. Not everyone could afford to buy haute couture dresses. For this reason, there is a tailor-made fashion, a line of full-size clothing that is made worldwide and according to lower quality standards, which makes clothes cheaper. In addition to haute couture and tailor-made, however, there is a third category, namely fast fashion. This is based on the latest fashion trends, so the products are considered stylish for a short time.
Products are usually made from synthetic and cheap materials, which means that the shelf life is reduced. The manufacturing process is not environmentally friendly. Most of the products are manufactured in Asia, which leads to several legal problems, with human rights and labour law being the most worrying. Intellectual property rights issues also arise when fast fashion copies ideas from protected fashion houses. In 1991, a Supreme Court justice overturned a conviction for abusive behavior for nudity on a beach in the presence of children, arguing that since the beach in question was „a place where it was not uncommon for people to sunbathe naked,“ a reasonable person would „watch the behavior.“ as inappropriate, unnecessary and tasteless, but not arousing feelings of anger, disgust or indignation. [24] New Zealand is a common law country, which means that court decisions determine the law that subsequent cases must follow. Adjective veiled, clothed, draped, wrapped, wrapped In India, various acts such as „indecent exposure“, „public indecency“, etc., which involve the exposure of a certain part of the body (genitals, buttocks, anus, nipples in women), a certain intention or effect (sexually suggestive, offensive or embarrassing observer) are illegal. If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart were just, open and kind, the other virtues would be almost useless, since their main purpose is to let us patiently endure the injustice of our fellow men. Usually, new designers and fast fashion houses imitate other products. However, this finding should not be generalized. In the world of fashion, one can also find the opposite, because even the big fashion houses are sometimes largely inspired, or worse, they imitate either small designer houses or traditional artistic products. Recent case law mentions problems regarding some kind of bamboo bag or symbols of the Navajo Nation used in the fashion world without properly mentioning and respecting their origins (The Fashion Law, 2019).
But it`s not just fashion products that are being copied. Fashion houses are engaged in legal disputes regarding the illegal use of their logos. Notable cases are Chanel/EUIPO – Jing Zhou (ornament), Louis Vuitton Malletier/OHIM, Nanu-Nana and Polo/Lauren Company LP/OHIM, FreshSide Ltd. In addition, the infringement of intellectual property rights may result in prosecution against the unauthorized user through the imposition of a fine (compensation) or in serious cases. Breastfeeding in public is a legal right in Australia. Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, no enterprise or service provider may discriminate against a breastfeeding woman. [4] Like the previous discipline, public fashion law encompasses several other branches of law. The most notable are freedom of expression (about the message the artist can convey and how it can be restricted) and criminal law (a criminal aspect of fashion law is fake and grey market products). A Canadian legal advice website states: „Canada has a tangle of confusing and inconsistent nudity laws. The section on public nudity is one of the few areas of the Penal Code that requires the approval of the Attorney General to file an indictment, implying a certain gray area around what constitutes illegal nudity. According to the Government Prosecutor`s Office, the consent of the Attorney General is required for two reasons: to avoid the specific harm that could result from the persecution of an innocent person; and to avoid general harm resulting from the prosecution of a matter that is not in the public interest.
[17] Fashion law in Europe is seen as an emerging area of law. In the United States, however, fashion law can be referred to as an autonomous legal discipline. This is due to the fact that the social and economic importance of the fashion industry has grown rapidly, representing a global industry worth $1.7 trillion (Jimenez, Kolsun, 2016). The pioneer of fashion law is Susan Scafidi, who started the blog „Counterfeit Chic“ in 2005. Later, she also founded the Fashion Law Institute, based at Fordham Law School, which introduced the first law courses in fashion law.