May 2006
Galaxy and Titanium Mouret Dresses up for Licensce to the Highest Bigger
Following the well publicised dispute between the fashion world’s current darling Roland Mouret and his former company Roland Mouret Design Limited it has been announced that the entire company archive is being offered under a ten year licence.
In October 2005 Mouret became the latest in a string of designers including Elizabeth Emmanuel and Ozwald Boateng to have potentially lost the right to use their own name commercially as a result of disputes with other directors, owners or investors of their companies.
The limited company that owns the designs is now owned by Sharai and Andre Meyers and it is they who have offered all 12 collection’s worth of samples and patterns up for licence. This licence would include the phenomenally successful and much copied Galaxy and Titanium dresses as well as 546 other designs accompanied by their respective patterns and samples.
BRIFFA Comment:
It is yet to be seen what will happen both in relation to the use the Mouret name and also in relation to the designs themselves. Mouret has a very distinctive style and as such whoever takes the licence would be likely to look to take a licence in his name also.
This case does highlight to young designers the importance of foresight when starting out. As soon as investors become involved in your business they are going to want their share of the intellectual property assets which many designers forget may include the rights to their name. It is important to think about what might happen in the event that the joint venture or company goes wrong in advance and to cover off all eventualities in a suitable agreement.
Sarah Jeffery
sarah@briffa.com