Gen-Z and the Millennials are always looking for the next best thing. Being ‘cool’ makes one feel relevant and thus, arouses confidence in one’s own self. Nowadays, what is defined as cool and trendy is your clothing which defines your personality and gives you an edge over others. The way you dress up is undeniably one of the most important determinants of the impression you give off to another person and the very basis of streetwear is this uniqueness and form of expression it provides its consumers. The lack of streetwear in India and the rise of hip-hop culture sprouted opportunities in favor of those who wanted to build brands inspired by the Streetwear fashion topography in the West. Therefore, in the last couple of years, we have seen the birth of several clothing brands that sell streetwear styles and promote the Hype culture in India such as Bomaachi, Jaywalking, BluOrng, etc. Although streetwear is inspired by the West, it is highly personalized as per the hip-hop and urban culture of India. Today, streetwear brands have found themselves an extremely strong following. With the increasing popularity of the rap and hip-hop culture, the hype surrounding streetwear brands hyped products enhanced as well. The influential power of this specific trend is so strong that words such as ‘cop’, and ‘’bop’ have also made it to the vocabulary of many teenagers and adults. Social media influencers such as Karan Khatri, Rannvijay Singha, and Ranveer Singh are some of India’s most popular hype beasts who promote and endorse streetwear and hype culture. Their Instagram pages often reflect their fondness of such brands and they also make posts about their sneakers and clothing collections. They are mostly seen dressed in streetwear brands such as Drewhouse, Essentials, Jaywalking, Bomaachi etc. and additionally, we often see them wearing the most hyped sneakers as well. These could be limited edition clothing or sneakers from brands such as Yeezy, Jordans or Nikes. Certain collaborations such as Ivy Park x Adidas, Gucci x Adidas, and Dior x Jordans are highly hyped as well. Ranveer Singh has been making headlines recently for making several appearances in the Gucci x Adidas collection and was also seen wearing this drop in the Fifa World Cup Match in Qatar. 

Besides influencers promoting and endorsing Streetwear brands and the Hype Culture, another reason for the rising popularity of this culture is the marketing strategy of these brands. These Streetwear brands have shaken up the Youth culture entirely. Such brands rely upon dropping a limited stock securing engagement from their target audience. Their limited drops and supplies encourage the targeted audience to be constantly engaged and updated with all its activities. They provide their audience a sneak peek on Instagram (obviously) and thus, create so much hype related to its drops. The low-key insight into the latest drops keeps the consumers excited and hyped about the products. Coupled with the limited stock, it motivates the audience to purchase the products because wearing something that is not very accessible makes you feel ‘cool’ and ‘fashionable’. Streetwear clothing focuses on making good quality, graphic clothing that assures its consumer’s comfort since it is mostly oversized and baggy. It has defied the boundaries clothes have otherwise created based on gender, size, and money. Streetwear brands such as Bomaachi, Jaywalking, Drew, and Essentials focus on creating unisex clothing that can fit anyone and everyone. This is exactly what attracts today’s youth who aspire to defy the rules and break boundaries. Not only this, Streetwear provides its consumers with comfort and fashion – two things that are not always seen together when it comes to fashion. Streetwear brands promote clothing that is quite literally opposite to what was considered fashionable in the past such as tight, skinny jeans that are extremely uncomfortable and short dresses for girls that restrict movement. What these brands sell are loose-fitting t-shirts, oversized cargos, and sweatshirts that give comfort. Baggy clothing allows you to freely breathe and move, it provides you with a sense of freedom to eat, sit, lie down, do basically anything you want to do. Additionally, another remarkable feature of streetwear brands is the price point at which it is sold. The average price can be defined as something that is not very accessible yet accessible to the crowd. Streetwear brands sell their clothing at a price that is not as high as luxurious brands but not as low to a point where it can be easily purchased by everyone. This maximizes the target audience and thus, in turn, has enhanced their profits. This is another reason why such brands have become so popular in much less time. It is also important to note that streetwear is not only popular just for its graphics or logos, the consumers besides equating it with hype culture also understand the importance it holds since it has opened up new doors for reselling and increased awareness about the whole genre of clothing. Streetwear brands also heavily focus on the quality of the clothing – most brands assure top-notch material of the items they sell.

Today, we see such brands opening several flagship stores and doing pop-ups in different cities such as Delhi, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Kolkata etc. In the last couple of years, the support and following such brands have received is unparalleled. For instance – Jaywalking has opened up two flagship stores already and is invited to do multiple pop-ups internationally as well. Similarly, BluOrng opened up their second store in Mumbai recently after their massive success at the Delhi store. The increased popularity has also provided opportunities for several others to open up stores such as Marketplace by Mainstreet, Crepdog Crew, Solesearch India whose businesses provide a platform to streetwear brands to collectively sell their products. These stores sell off items by different labels and brands and have been extremely successful as well. As a matter of fact, Find Your Kicks India is another very popular platform that aims to provide consumers with a single platform to sell, purchase and resell authentic sneakers and hyped apparel. The founders of this platform were also seen in Shark Tank India Season 1 and managed to secure investments by all the sharks in a historic episode. This went down in the history books of the Hype Culture and revealed the true value and upcoming importance of this niche area in the fashion world. This has not only opened up the eyes of those who considered streetwear to be a temporary fashion trend but has also revealed the emerging new wave of comfort fashion. With the increasing fan base of streetwear, the idea of your inner self and personality popping out has also been strengthened. Streetwear brands are seen not only in markets, shopping malls, and complexes but are also seen in high-profile events such as music and award ceremonies. 

Celebrities such as Diljit Dosanjh are also seen wearing outfits from these brands and fashion stylists have also made sure to include such brands in the fashion wardrobe of multiple celebrities for their interviews, promotions, and public appearances. Therefore, this is only the beginning for streetwear trends in India and there is huge potential that is yet to be unlocked in such brands. Streetwear culture will be the trendsetter in the coming years and dictate what fashion is as it is not only closely watched by the youth but is also worn by several influencers and celebrities. ‘Copping’ fits is the new wave — believe it or not… 

Bibliography 

Hindustan Times. “Indian Hypebeast Culture: Karan Khatri is the ‘hype’ in hypebeast”. [Online: Web] Accessed 19 December 2022 URL

https://www.hindustantimes.com/brand-post/indian-hypebeast-culture-karan-khatri-is-the-hype-in-hypebeast-101612524375203.html

Grazia. “How streetwear is growing into a highly covetable sartorial genre in India” [Online: Web] Accessed 19 December 2022 URL

https://www.grazia.co.in/fashion/how-streetwear-is-growing-into-a-highly-covetable-sartorial-genre-in-india-6785.html

The post Hype Culture and the Rise of Streetwear in India appeared first on Fashion Law Journal.

Rewinding it back to November, Drake and 21 Savage posted their picture with the Vogue mark and captioned it, “Thanks Vogue Magazine and Anna Wintour for your love and support” making it appear like Wintour, the Editor-in-chief of Vogue had permitted them to be the faces of the new cover. Considering this, the artists’ collaboration with Vogue became a major headline and social media users made it a hot topic. The new “cover” appeared to be a major step in their campaign for “Her Loss”, their album that debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and ranked on the 8th spot for the week ending February 18, 2023. A few days later, a lawsuit was filed against them in which Condé Nast claimed the artists had used the Vogue mark without due permission to promote their album and also posted the fake cover for their 135M followers to view. The rappers, Drake and 21 Savage, were sued for trademark infringement and false advertising for using the infamous Vogue mark on their picture and advertising it on their accounts making it seem like a real Vogue issue. The matter was looked into immediately and on 9th November, a federal judge declared that the campaign caused confusion and also announced how Nast would likely win the trademark and false advertising lawsuit. In the order issued, Judge Jed Rakoff ordered Drake and 21 Savage to “immediately refrain from using the Vogue trademark” and directed a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) was “necessary … to protect the public from confusion, deception, and mistake, and to protect Condé Nast from immediate irreparable injury.”

The judge found that Drake and 21 Savage’s creation of pictures of a deceptive cover of Vogue magazine featuring the Vogue mark in addition to several of its copies led the audience to believe it to be an actual magazine issue. Additionally, the counterfeit magazine cover also led consumer confusion about the “origin, sponsorship, or approval of the counterfeit cover, misleading consumers to believe that these are genuine and authentic materials associated with Condé Nast and Vogue magazine.” As a result, Drake and 21 Savage deleted the post and paused their campaign. Furthermore, counsel for Condé Nast also pointed out how different media articles wrote about the artists’ collaboration with Vogue and social media users also appeared to believe this campaign to be real. Finally, a few days back the decision came out wherein a settlement was agreed upon, bringing the lawsuit to an end. According to a stipulation dated February 2, a permanent injunction was put in place, prohibiting the artists to further use the Vogue trademark or any similar marks. The rappers will also be paying an unspecified amount to Condé to “bolster the ongoing creative output” of Vogue Magazine. This order has barred the artists to use the trademark in any commercial capacity, making it a win for Condé Nast. The general counsel for Nast also commented how, “it was clear to us that Drake and 21 Savage leveraged Vogue’s reputation for their own commercial purposes and, in the process, confused audiences who trust Vogue as the authoritative voice on fashion and culture.”

References: 

The Print (2023), “Rappers Drake and 21 Settle with Condé Nast over fake Vogue Cover”, [Online: Web] Accessed 22 February 2023 URL: https://theprint.in/entertainment/rappers-drake-21-savage-settle-with-conde-nast-over-fake-vogue-cover/1380315/.

The Fashion Law (2023), “Conde Nast settles Drake 21 Savage lawsuit over fake Vogue Cover”, [Online: Web] Accessed 22 February 2023 URL:https://www.thefashionlaw.com/conde-nast-settles-drake-21-savage-lawsuit-over-fake-vogue-cover-campaign/. 

The post Drake and 21 Savage’s recent settlement with Condé Nast over fake Vogue cover: An insight into Trademark infringement and False Advertising appeared first on Fashion Law Journal.

The newest form of marketing involves brands, companies and organisations seeking social media influencers to promote their products and in return, such influencers receive a payment and very often, free products in the name of PR Packages. This form of paid partnerships is titled as “Influencer Marketing” and is seen as one of the most efficient and successful means of advertising in current times. The enhanced dependence on this form of marketing underlines the need to apply appropriate legal methods such as influencer agreements to not only make such agreements legally binding but also to prevent any sort of mishap. Advertising and marketing products with the help of social media influencers entails a lot of investment, strategies and costs from both sides – the influencer’s and the brand’s. Therefore, such frameworks aim to safeguard the goodwill and the reputation of various brands and also protect the reliability of the influencer. For instance – When Proactiv, a skin care brand announced Kendall Jenner as its new face, it received a lot of backlash because earlier Kendall Jenner had posted about another skin care brand that helped her with her acne. This highlights the need for a reliable agreement between a brand and an influencer and also highlights the need for influencers to be transparent about the products they actually use. Generally, an influencer agreement defines and underlines the job profile and responsibilities of the brand and the influencer it seeks to partner with. It typically contains mutually agreeable terms and conditions and entails a few necessary clauses such as time and duration of the partnership, payment method, how a brand wants the influencer to promote the product etc. The growing dependency to enforce such agreements depends on the fact that the audience does not seek fabricated stories about a certain product but instead craves a real, honest review of it. Generally speaking, an influencer agreement is beneficial to both the parties because it outlines a few essential elements such as the terms of such a partnership, the validity of it, the payment mode and the ways through which an influencer can promote a certain product. An agreement of this sort gives clarity on the terms and conditions of the partnership and how the company or the brand expects you to promote their product. It lays down content rights, hashtags requirement, timelines, payment clauses, grounds of termination and other standard issues. Typically, an influencer agreement should include the above-mentioned clauses to clearly lay down the responsibilities and liabilities of the influencer as well as the brand. Such an agreement should entail necessary clauses: a) how the brand wants the product to be promoted, b) when and through which means should the influencer promote the good, c) is there a set routine as to the promotion or can the influencer add his/her own creative elements into it, d) how many posts does the brand expect an influencer to make related to the product, e) once the job is done from an influencer’s side, how and when should he/she receive the payment, f) through which means should the payment be done and when exactly is it due, g) does the brand expect an influencer to not collaborate with any other brand while he/she is in the stipulated time period of the partnership, h) what is the specific time period of such a partnership, i) validity grounds of the agreement, j) termination grounds of the agreement and any other clause that a brand might feel is necessary to include to state the terms and conditions. For example – Many a times, companies restrict an influencer from using colour filters while promoting products since it changes the shade or the appearance of the product and thus, might blur a viewer’s understanding of the product. Often, brands also state whether they want influencers to put stories or reels or just a single post regarding the product. This makes the partnership more transparent and efficient. Secondly, an agreement also explicitly lays down the time period within which the promotion is to be made or within which an influencer is expected to advertise the product. Moreover, such an accord protects the intellectual property of the brands that give its products to influencers in order to advertise them. Lastly, influencer agreements also highlight that an influencer can directly be held liable in case of default or breach of such an agreement. This has also been enforced via the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 that introduced the notion of “caveat venditor” to put influencers, creators and celebrities under the scope of providing services that could harm the consumers. 

The need for the enforcement of such legal frameworks can be also be underlined by emphasising upon the necessity for influencers to ensure that the product they are agreeing to promote does what it claims to do and does not hurt the sentiments of any particular section. A history check and research is thus, very important to carry out the due diligence on the influencer’s part. An in-depth check is required since influencers have the responsibility to be answerable to all its viewers in case of a mishap. Therefore, in recent times we have also seen the introduction of various features such as the option to disclose a paid collaboration on Instagram or the usage of hashtags specifically made for the brand and other relevant hashtags such as #collaboration, #ad etc. Such steps encourage transparency and ensure that the fan base knows it is a paid advertisement. There have also been a few judicial pronouncements circling down the significance of legal agreements. For Instance – in the precedent case of Marico Limited v Abhijeet Bhansali, the Court directed a YouTube video to be taken down after it was found to promote a certain company’s oil by undervaluing the oil made by the other companies. Moreover, in the case of Reckitt & Colman v Kiwi T.K.K Ltd., the Court held that a manufacturer cannot put its competitor’s goods in a bad limelight just to promote its own products. Therefore, with the growing popularity of influencer marketing and advertising, there is a growing need to enforce influencer agreements as well. As already stated, it plays a dual role in benefitting both the influencer and the brand by protecting and safeguarding their rights. 

Influencer agreements also help such a partnership to carry out the consumer’s best interests. Therefore, influencer agreements are an excellent step towards unifying the industry. 

References:

• Bhakuni, Lavanya (2021), “Fashion Influencers and Law”, Fashion Law Journal, [Online: Web] Accessed 13 December 2022 URL: https://fashionlawjournal.com/fashion-influencers-and-law/.
• Global Web Index Report 2021, [Online: Web] Accessed 11 December 2022 URL: https://www.gwi.com/data. 
• Economic Times. “The celebrity and the Consumer Protection Act.” [Online: Web] Accessed 12 December 2022 URL: https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/marketing/the-celebrity-and-the-consumer-protection-act/77189902.
• Khaitan and Co. “ASCI Releases Influencer Advertising Guidelines For Digital Media.” https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-benchmark-report-2021/.
• Madaan, Muskan (2021), “A New Era in Advertising & Marketing: Navigating the Legal Considerations Associated with Influencers.” [Online: Web] Accessed 12 December 2022 URL: https://fashionlawjournal.com/a-new-era-in-advertising-marketing-navigating-the-legal-considerations-associated-with-influencers/. 
• Mehta, Apoorva (2021), “5 Reasons you need Celebrity/ Influencer Agreements”, Fashion Law Journal, [Online: Web] Accessed 13 December 2022 URL: https://fashionlawjournal.com/5-reasons-you-need-celebrity-influencer-agreements/. 
• Marico Limited v Abhijeet Bhansali, 2019 COMMERCIAL APPEAL (L) NO. 31 OF 2020. 
• Reckitt & Colman Of India Ltd. vs Kiwi T.T.K. Ltd, 1996 (37) DRJ 649. 

The post Need for Influencer Agreement appeared first on Fashion Law Journal.