Fashion & Retail

The Fashion & Retail Industry is a fast moving, rapidly changing industry. The importance of the brand is leading in developing business strategy.

The importance of trends, rapidly changing product offerings, futures orders systems, the short seasonal selling cycles, and margins under pressure are just some particularities of this industry.

Solid experience in this sector is key to provide proper and practical legal advice. Especially now that the European Union sets more and more rules that affect the industry resulting in increased compliance scrutiny on; data protection, competition, product compliance and anti-bribery. This requires an agile business strategy to manage distributor and supplier relationships, product development & marketing, real estate portfolio and (flexible) workforce.

The dynamics of the Fashion and Retail industry require a more fluid, innovative and provocative outside legal assistance. We know this business inside out and provide a dedicated team with solid industry experience.

Please get in touch with Martine de Koning if you require our assistance.

Our clients range from multinational manufacturers of fashion and consumer goods to supermarkets and pure on line players.

"Martine de Koning has been Nike’s Account Manager at Kennedy van der Laan since 2000. Over the years, Martine handled strategically important litigation for us such as international commercial disputes and competition law cases before the relevant authorities. She has a clear vision and takes the lead in a smart and assertive manner with an eye to effective communication with all stakeholders involved. Martine offers high service levels and quickly understands the business interests at stake. Martine handled in a pragmatic way many franchise, distribution, agency and procurement cases over the years. She became involved early on in the legal support of the Nike stores project, including localisation and implementation of contracts in the EMEA region. Martine was a key player in the creation of the Alliance for Nike, an innovative concept which allows Nike to work with selected firms in a number of European countries, under the leadership and coordination by Kennedy van der Laan, creating savings and efficiencies and driving convergence."

"Kennedy Van der Laan is a no-nonsense, value for money, reliable business partner. Their attorneys understand our industry, are very professional and a pleasure to work with. They look at the bigger picture and bring innovative and practical solutions. They quickly focus on the essence and are not overly theoretical in their approach. They are passionate about their profession and it shows."

“The Alliance for Nike, under leadership of Kennedy Van der Laan, has now been in place in the wider European region for five years and it is a great success. In the first years the Alliance accelerated efficiencies, drove convergence and significantly improved spend predictability and insight. In more recent years, the emphasis was on intensive knowledge and best practices sharing, innovative (digital) communications, effective feedback processes, and central project coordination. The Alliance allows us to retain the firms that are the best fit to Nike’s needs in each jurisdiction, while still benefitting from centralized management by Kennedy Van der Laan. It is a true partnership, and the Alliance continues to thrive and expand both in legal fields and jurisdictions.”- Bill Berner, General Counsel Nike EMEA