The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Michele Di Pierro, owner of International Brand Firm Ltd. (IBF) — which exploited international trademark law to manufacture knockoffs of the streetwear brand’s look and logo in countries including (but not limited to) Italy, Indonesia, Singapore and Spain — has been sentenced in a British court to eight years of jail time in connection with a case filed by the Supreme brand, according to The Fashion Law. His son, Marcello, was sentenced to three years in connection with the same case.
IBF’s Supreme Italia played off of the “first-to-file” trademark system existing in several countries — which has governing intellectual property bodies issue trademark registration to companies which file applications first, rather than the companies which use the mark commercially first, making Supreme Italia’s widespread production of Supreme-branded goods and stores “legal fakes.”
Joan Kennedy is Editorial Associate at The Business of Fashion. She is based in New York and covers beauty and marketing.
The Rome-based couture house’s bet on Rome’s most bankable design talent could help it punch above its weight.
The duo behind Skims are taking a minority stake in the luxury cashmere label, with an eye on scaling the cult brand.
After headline pieces — sometimes formerly owned by celebrities or featured on TV — sell for blockbuster prices, they can end up pretty much anywhere, from museums to collectors’ closets.
Serre, who grew sales by 20 percent in 2023, has been named Pitti Uomo’s next guest designer. She’s using the opportunity to show her men’s collection for the first time.