The power of names in fashion according to the law We asked the law expert Lucrezia Massa Finoli what the law says about the protection of the name in family brands

A name is something very powerful, especially in the fashion world. Before knowing the language and aesthetic codes of a brand, we know its name. So much so that those most averse to the concept of logomania often complain that a certain product is simply a trivial object with a name printed on it – but it is precisely in the few letters of that name that the power of a brand is hidden. Often these names are shared, as happens in the case of family-run fashion brands that, especially in Italy, are many: dynasties such as Gucci, Prada, Ferragamo, Versace, Zegna and so on, have been at the helm of companies that represent the best of their sector for decades. But a shared name is also a name that can disperse – and by dispersing it can take power away from the brand that that name represents. 

Another issue concerns the descendants of the founder of a brand who want to use their name for commercial purposes, as in the case of Guccio and Alessandro, son of Giorgio Gucci. In that case «the assignment of the patronymic trademark implies the loss for the owner of the possibility of using his name as a trademark». Nevertheless, that name can be used in compliance with the "principles of professional correctness" but also in such a way as to «not to generate risks of confusion among consumers». The issue of the sale of their names has numerous precedents in the fashion world: Jil Sander, Thierry Mugler, Martin Margiela, Ann Demeulemeester, Helmut Lang, Halston, John Galliano and Donna Karan are all examples of designers who have sold trademarks related to their name, losing the rights to use it and generating confusion in cases such as that of the collaboration between Uniqlo and designer Jil Sander,  who have signed a collection named J+ because, as specified to nss magazine a representative of the brand «the brand bears her name, but Mrs. Sander is no longer linked to the activities of the maison».

It is no coincidence that the designer-stars of the new generation such as Alessandro Michele, Hedi Slimane, Kim Jones, Matthew Williams or Phoebe Philo have always been very careful never to overlap their name with that of the brand for which they worked, using it only in the case of collaborations in their own right. A trend that has highlighted how, for today's designers, mindful of the past, the patronymic brand has become a bankable asset, endowed with a unique intrinsic value, which all the designers of the future will have to learn to defend if they do not want to follow the fate of Paolo Gucci.