2023.09.25
Ebisawa Miyuki × Nakajima Shunta – The Benefits of Utilizing 'Fashion Law' for Designers
Miyuki Ebisawa, a lawyer at Mimura Komatsu Law Firm, presents the feature project 'Fashion Law'. Fashion Law deals with legal issues related to the fashion industry and sector. In March this year, Japan's first "Fashion Law Guidebook" was published.
In the development of the Fashion Law Guidebook, the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry launched the Fashion Future Study Group – Fashion Law WG (Working Group). Ebisawa served as the vice chairperson of this group.
In this feature, we bring you a dialogue with Miyuki Ebisawa and Shunta Nakajima of ALMOSTBLACK.
ALMOSTBLACK, founded in 2015 by Nakajima and Masaki Kawase, is a men’s fashion brand under the concept of 'POST JAPONISM'. It has garnered high acclaim both domestically and internationally, attracting attention through various collaborations with art works.
In this conversation, Nakajima, who is actively working at the forefront as a fashion designer, shares his experiences and discusses the role and significance of Fashion Law, as well as its challenges.
PROFILE
Miyuki Ebisawa
Lawyer (The Second Tokyo Bar Association) / Fashion Editor
Mimura Komatsu Law Firm
Focused on legal issues related to fashion, operating the legal consultation service for fashion industry professionals 'fashionlaw.tokyo', and leading the specialized media 'mag by fashionlaw.tokyo'. Part-time lecturer at Bunka Fashion College, researcher at Fashion Law Institute Japan. Member of METI's 'Study Group on Fashion Futures' and vice chairperson of the 'Fashion Law WG'. Since 2022, an external director at Takashimaya Co., Ltd. Numerous writings, interviews, and lectures about Fashion Law.
PROFILE
Shunta Nakajima
ALMOSTBLACK Designer
After graduating from ESMOD Paris, Nakajima worked as a design assistant in Raf Simons' atelier for two years. Following this, he gained experience with various domestic and international designer brands, and in 2015, together with Masaki Kawase, launched the men's fashion brand 'ALMOSTBLACK'. Known for the 'POST JAPONISM' concept and collaborative works with artists, he has been expanding his activities, recently becoming a director of an e-sports apparel brand and starting a branding company with Shunya Komatsu from Mimura Komatsu Law Firm.
The Major Hurdle Between Fashion & Law
EbisawaALMOSTBLACK, Nakajima's brand, has a consultancy contract with Mimura Komatsu Law Firm, where I work.
Nakajima, our firm’s representative Komatsu, and I go beyond the typical relationship between a fashion brand and a consulting lawyer, as we are currently starting up a company together, among other innovative activities within the industry.
I was in charge of handling the trademark registration when ALMOSTBLACK was expanding into China.
Today I hope to also discuss this topic.
First, I would like Nakajima to share about how he became involved with lawyers and whether he was conscious of legal matters from the start of his career as a fashion designer.
NakajimaI wasn't aware of legal matters at all.
At least, during my time at vocational school, I never learned about contracts, so I lacked knowledge and there was nowhere to acquire it. I believe many young designers today might feel the same.
ALMOSTBLACK has undertaken various collaborations, but when we started the brand, I had no idea how to write a contract, and I solved issues solely through sheer determination.
By chance, the contracts often seemed to follow a certain format, and although I knew I would need professional help, I continually put it off.
Even when we collaborated with Kazuo Shiraga and Fujiko Shiraga in our Autumn/Winter 2021 collection, I had personally contacted the Shiraga Foundation and their family, but when it came to signing the contract, I had no clue what to do.
The Shiraga side was collaborating with fashion for the first time, so it was necessary to create a contract from scratch.
(Collaboration with Shiraga. Note: The top image of this article is from the 2021 AW collaboration)
NakajimaJust around that time, I was introduced to Komatsu by Masahiko Sakata, the mentor of Masaki Kawase.
Sakata advised us, "When Nakajima and his team's brand goes abroad, legal advice will definitely be necessary." From that point, we started consulting Komatsu about legal issues including contracts, and we successfully realized a collaboration with Shiraga.
From such experiences, I feel lucky to have had these encounters, but the biggest barrier between fashion and law is not knowing whom to consult.
Especially for younger generations, it’s rare to have acquaintances who are lawyers, and even reaching out to a law firm can feel like a high hurdle for many people.
EbisawaThat’s true. For most people going about their daily lives, the chance of having consulted a lawyer even once is slim.
Moreover, finding a lawyer who shares a common language with your line of work can be quite challenging.
Up until then, Nakajima had been handling responsibilities himself, but has anything changed in the way of working or mentally, since Komatsu became the advisory lawyer?
The Benefits of Utilizing Lawyers
NakajimaIt has changed as much as heaven and earth. It’s like the difference between fighting with bare hands and fighting with a tank.
Being able to consult at any moment has been a major advantage. Not just for contracts, but for questions about photography and other areas, having a professional say, "It’s okay," is very reassuring.
EbisawaIt’s important to be able to quickly ask about minor queries that come up in daily operations, such as, "Is it okay to shoot photos with sculptures or paintings in the background of the models and clothes?"
Many of these can be resolved with a simple conversation, which also helps speed up work processes. It’s a significant advantage, I think.
NakajimaConsulting a lawyer might sound overwhelming, but we often communicate through LINE messages without the formality of always saying "Thank you for your assistance." It’s really casual.
"Keeping a record of the LINE conversation will serve as proper evidence," I was told, which was a new insight for me.
EbisawaNakajima and Komatsu act as a well-coordinated team, which is really great.
Also, since Komatsu is an art collector and has a deep understanding of art, he can provide detailed options like, "Legally, this is okay, but it might be better to follow these industry rules."
NakajimaThat's right. When consulting about incorporating a phrase by Sofu Teshigahara, the founder of IKEBANA SOGETSU, into our 2023 fall/winter collection, we were advised, "Legally, we can go ahead, but let's get a prior consent." Being able to ask what steps to take for a collaboration is invaluable.
Thanks to our accumulated experiences, galleries have started approaching us saying, "Please collaborate with us."
Trademark Registration Considerations for International Expansion
EbisawaThat's wonderful to hear. How is ALMOSTBLACK's international expansion going? Is the Chinese market doing well?
NakajimaYes, sales are growing and the market is doing well.
Since China represents a significant share of our overseas market, it was great to have completed trademark registration there. Ebisawa, you played a significant role in that, didn’t you?
I left the entire strategy for trademark registration in your hands.
EbisawaRegistering a trademark in China was quite a challenge. Initially, we wanted to register the trademark for ALMOSTBLACK to expand its operations in China, only to find that "ALMOST BLACK" (note the space between T and B) had already been registered by a third party.
Since we couldn't proceed with our business in China under these circumstances, we had to think of a solution.
With assistance from our partnering office in China, we discovered that "ALMOST BLACK" had not been used for several years. Under Chinese trademark law, if a registered trademark has not been used for three consecutive years, you can file for a cancellation of the trademark on the grounds of non-use.
Interestingly, Japanese trademark law also contains a similar system. Accordingly, we applied for the cancellation of "ALMOST BLACK" while simultaneously filing a new application for "ALMOSTBLACK," ensuring that if the old trademark was cancelled, we could quickly secure the new registration.
By carefully timing these procedures to progress concurrently, we were fortunate enough to successfully register the trademark.
NakajimaThis case made me painfully aware that ideally, one should consider trademarks and such legal matters right from the stage of choosing the brand's name.
The systems differ by country, and in China, particularly, there is a prevalent issue of trademark squatting. I've heard stories where young designers become victims of preemptive trademark registrations in China the moment they receive awards internationally.
If that happens, you might not be able to sell your products in China, and it could even jeopardize the continuation of your brand.
EbisawaAs mentioned in the "Fashion Law Guidebook," bad faith applications are very common in China, so if you're considering entering the Chinese market, it is advisable to apply in Japan and China simultaneously.
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