Brexit: The Legal Digest in conversation with the fashion industry on the challenges they face

The people and companies we spoke to have been anonymised to protect their identity.

Now that Brexit is here, the fashion industry faces challenges and uncertainties. From creative directors to runway models and dressmakers, all are affected by the upcoming changes that Brexit presents in their bid to remain at the top of the competitive fashion world.

We spoke to a creative director at a top fashion house on the impact that Brexit will have on the fashion industry, his main concerns being tariffs, the ability to move in and out of the UK and the rules that will apply to the UK. We set out a summary of our conversation below.

Freedom of movement

Many warehouses and factories are based in the EU and traveling between the UK and the EU to liaise with suppliers and create new designs is part and parcel of working in fashion. Being a fast paced industry means that the ability to move to and from countries at a moment’s notice is imperative for the smooth running of the business and to keep up with demands, particularly in the fast fashion world we live in today.

The announcement of the government’s new immigration points based system and the end of freedom of movement is not a welcome change. Recruiting the right people to work in the UK particularly in creative environments where you need a diverse range of workers and the ability to move around in between offices from country to country so that models can try out new products and prepare for fashion shows affects the creative process. These restrictions lead to a shortage of workers and delays in the production line particularly for textile factory workers who may not fulfil the requirements of the new immigration points based system proposed by the UK government. The new immigration rules require the UK to only employ ‘skilled workers’, some of the factory workers may not fulfil those requirements under the new rules regardless of how important the worker is to the fashion house.

Tariffs

Many fashion houses were built on the basis of free trade between the UK and the EU and the UK is highly reliant on exporting textiles to the EU. The zero tariffs under the trade agreement between the UK and the EU is a welcome to fashion houses however, there are likely to be more stringent checks carried out causing delays and potentially goods being turned away if they are not in compliance with EU standards, something which has already been experienced during these uncertain and confusing times over how businesses should prepare for Brexit.

Ensuring that goods are in line with EU standards will be a challenge if the UK does not implement the same standards into UK law particularly because there will be multiple supply chains some of which are based outside the EU and which may not maintain the same standards expected by the EU. In addition, having multiple supply chains is very common and if we are to identify each and every supplier in that chain to be able to export goods (the EU imposes separate requirements on countries outside the EU), then this will make exporting goods a much lengthier and costly process.

Trademark and copyright protection

EU registered trademarks will no longer be protected from 1st January 2021 by the UK Intellectual Property Office and instead the trademarks will be cloned into new UK trade mark registrations. This means that the EU and UK trademarks going forwards will need separate renewals which adding more costs to fashion houses that will be looking to ensure their designs are protected from any potential intellectual property infringement.

The fashion industry is one example of the challenges that Brexit presents and if creative people, models and textile workers are not able to be available at short notice then it makes the UK a less attractive place to conduct its business.