The Fashion Practice

Abisade Adenubi

Principal

Abisade Adenubi works with fashion founders and operators to build, structure, and scale their businesses. She focuses on the strategic and operational decisions that shape how fashion businesses grow — from business structuring and production strategy to supply chain management, commercial agreements, and regulatory navigation.

Abisade founded and operated a fashion brand and established a garment manufacturing facility in Nigeria, where she developed production systems, set up technical training programmes for factory personnel, and built processes aligned with global industry standards. This experience shapes how she works — with a practical, ground-level understanding of what it takes to build a fashion business from the ground up.

She brings a background in corporate finance, regulatory advisory, and compliance, having trained and worked at leading international law firms and financial institutions across London, New York, and Bangkok. There, she worked on cross-border transactions, regulatory matters, and risk frameworks, developing a rigorous, systems-oriented approach to complex commercial problems.

Her work today integrates these experiences — applying legal rigour and strategic thinking to the realities of building fashion businesses that are operationally sound, commercially viable, and positioned to scale within a globalised industry.

Alongside her advisory work, Abisade engages in research and thought leadership on global fashion governance, with a focus on the intersection of international trade, development policy, and the fashion industry. She contributes to industry conversations through teaching, speaking, and capacity-building initiatives. She has spoken at the Fashion Law Institute in New York, African Leadership University, and African Fashion Week London, and has participated in discussions convened by the EU-Africa Business Forum, Afreximbank, and Portugal Fashion Week.

Current LL.M. in Fashion Law — Fordham Law School, New York

Education M.A. in International Law — The Graduate Institute, Geneva
LL.B. — London School of Economics & Political Science

Qualification Qualified Lawyer — England & Wales

Executive Education London College of Fashion
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)

New York · London · Lagos

About The Practice

Beyond creativity.
Into the business of fashion.

Fashion is often approached as a creative industry — driven by vision, aesthetics, and momentum.

But behind every enduring brand is something less visible: structure, clarity, and a considered approach to how the business is built.

The Fashion Practice works with founders and operators to bring that structure into focus. We believe that creative vision and structural rigour are not in tension — they are fundamentally interdependent.

Operating across law, business strategy, and the global fashion system, the practice supports the building of fashion businesses that are not only creative — but commercially viable, operationally sound, and strategically positioned.

This is not about adding complexity.
It is about building with clarity from the outset — and strengthening the foundations as the business evolves.

Because great fashion endures only when the business beneath it is well built.

Legal Expertise

Legal insights applied with precision, to structure and protect fashion businesses. We draw on training at the highest levels of international corporate law, bringing that rigour to bear on the specific challenges founders face as they build.

Strategic & Commercial Thinking

A considered approach that brings clarity to how fashion businesses operate, grow, and create value over time. Beyond the law — we bring commercial intelligence and business strategy to every engagement.

Industry Understanding

We understand the fashion ecosystem deeply — from the creative process to commercial pressures and the global systems at play. That understanding shapes every engagement, ensuring our counsel is grounded in the realities of the industry, not just the law.

What We Do

Three Dimensions of Our Practice

Our practice is structured around three interconnected disciplines — each essential, each distinct.

Strategic Advisory

Strategic guidance on the legal and structural dimensions of building and scaling fashion businesses.
This includes business formation and structuring, intellectual property strategy and protection, commercial agreements, and regulatory compliance — alongside broader questions of positioning, ownership, and long-term growth.
Our role is to bring clarity to how the business is built, and to ensure the foundations are sound before scale.

Structure — Protect — Scale

Executive Education

Focused, high-level sessions designed to equip founders and operators with the knowledge required to build and run fashion businesses effectively.
Through intensives, workshops, and structured programmes, we translate legal, commercial, and strategic concepts into clear, practical frameworks — covering areas such as intellectual property, contracts, business structure and systematisation, management and governance.
Participants leave with tools, language, and clarity that can be applied immediately.

Knowledge — Frameworks — Clarity

Industry Insights

Perspectives at the intersection of fashion, law, business, and global systems.
We develop analytical insights on the global fashion industry — exploring the forces shaping the industry, and the strategic implications for brands navigating an increasingly complex landscape.
This work reflects the intellectual foundation of the practice and informs our advisory and education pillars — equipping founders with a broader understanding of the environment in which they operate.

Analysis — Perspective — Foresight

Strategic Advisory

Structure. Ownership. Direction.

Overview

We work directly with fashion founders and senior operators on the legal and strategic decisions that shape their businesses.

Our role is to provide the level of considered, high-quality counsel that has traditionally been available to large organisations — applied in a way that is relevant, practical, and aligned with the realities of building a fashion business.

Advisory work is bespoke, confidential, and oriented entirely toward enabling our clients to build with clarity and confidence.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Our advisory work typically engages with questions such as:

How should the business be structured from the outset?

What intellectual property exists within the brand, and how should it be protected?

How should ownership be defined — between founders, collaborators, and investors?

What contractual frameworks are required to support operations (manufacturing, partnerships, distribution)?

What legal and regulatory compliance considerations need to be addressed as the business grows?

How should the business be structured to support future growth, expansion, or external investment?

Each engagement is shaped around the specific needs of the business, but always with a focus on clarity, structure, and long-term viability.

How We Work

We offer advisory through three primary engagement models, depending on the needs and stage of the business.

Project-Based Engagements

Defined scope, specific advisory focused on particular areas of the business — such as structure, intellectual property, systematisation, or contractual frameworks. Suited to businesses addressing a specific issue or undertaking a discrete piece of work.

Retained Advisory

Ongoing access to strategic and legal counsel over a defined period. Suited to founders and operators who require consistent input across multiple areas of the business as it evolves — providing continuity, context, and a deep level of engagement.

Diagnostic Review

A structured assessment of the business across its legal, commercial, structural, and strategic foundations — identifying gaps, risks, and areas of misalignment, and providing clear recommendations to strengthen the overall architecture. Often used as a starting point for deeper advisory work.

Engagements are designed to be focused, rigorous, and aligned with the long-term interests of the business.

Work With The Practice

Business Formation & Structure

Advising on the appropriate legal and corporate structure from the outset — including entity selection, shareholder agreements, and founder agreements.

Intellectual Property Strategy

Designing IP frameworks to identify, protect, and manage brand assets — including trademarks and broader protection strategies across jurisdictions.

Contracts & Commercial Agreements

Structuring and advising on key agreements across manufacturing, distribution, licensing, retail, and partnerships — ensuring clarity of rights, obligations, and risk allocation.

Ownership & Governance

Defining ownership structures and governance frameworks — including roles, decision-making rights, and relationships between founders, collaborators, and stakeholders.

Regulatory & Compliance

Advising on applicable regulatory frameworks — including sustainability obligations, cross-border trade considerations, and evolving compliance requirements.

Executive Education

Knowledge for Building

Overview

Our executive education offering is designed to equip founders and operators with the knowledge required to build and operate their fashion businesses effectively and with confidence.

We translate legal, commercial, and strategic concepts into clear, practical frameworks — enabling better decision-making and stronger foundations from the outset.

Format

Sessions are delivered as:

Intensives (4 hours)

Short workshops (90 mins)

Structured multi-session programmes (forthcoming)

What Participants Gain

Through our sessions, participants develop:

A clear understanding of how fashion businesses are structured — legally, commercially, and operationally

The ability to identify what intellectual property exists within their brand, and how to protect it

Greater confidence in negotiating and navigating contracts and commercial relationships

Insight into ownership structures, governance frameworks, and risk allocation

The language and frameworks required to make informed decisions — and to engage effectively with lawyers, investors, and advisors

A broader understanding of the regulatory and systemic forces shaping the global fashion industry

Sessions are open to founders at all stages — whether pre-launch, early-stage, or in the process of scaling. The material is structured to be relevant regardless of where you are in the journey.

Each session is designed to be rigorous, practical, and immediately applicable.

Forthcoming Sessions

Legal Foundations & Business Structure

Understanding how to structure a fashion business from the outset — including entity formation, founder relationships, and the legal architecture that underpins growth.

Contracts & Commercial Agreements

A practical guide to the agreements that govern fashion businesses — from manufacturing and partnerships to licensing and distribution.

Systematisation & Operational Clarity

Bringing structure to how the business runs — translating vision into repeatable processes, clear roles, and operational discipline.

Production & Supply Chain Structures

Understanding how production and supply relationships are structured — including sourcing, manufacturing arrangements, and risk allocation across the value chain.

Compliance & Global Fashion Regulation

Navigating the evolving regulatory landscape shaping fashion — from sustainability obligations to cross-border trade and due diligence requirements.

Current Intensive

Build It. Protect It. Own It.

An Intellectual Property and Brand Protection Intensive for Fashion Founders

A focused, high-level session designed to help founders understand what they are building — and how to protect it.

This intensive covers:

What elements of a fashion brand are protectable — and how

Common misconceptions around copying and infringement

Practical steps for protecting your work

What to do if your designs are copied

This session is designed for founders who are building or have recently launched a fashion brand, as well as those who have been operating for some time but have not yet put a clear IP framework in place.

No legal background is required. The session is structured to be accessible, clear, and immediately actionable.

Participants also receive tools, templates, and frameworks to support implementation.

Enquire About Programmes View Details & Register

Industry Insight

Perspectives on the Business of Fashion

Understanding Fashion as a Global System

This dimension of the practice is focused on developing perspectives at the intersection of fashion, law, business, and global systems.

It reflects an approach to fashion not only as a creative industry, but as a structured and evolving system shaped by trade, regulation, production, and capital.

What This Work Engages With

We develop analytical insight into the forces shaping the global fashion industry — and the implications of those forces for how businesses are built, operate, and scale.

This includes areas such as:

Global supply chains and production networks

Trade frameworks and market access

Sustainability, compliance, and regulatory developments

The structure and governance of fashion value chains

The relationship between creativity, commerce, and law

Why This Matters

Fashion businesses do not operate in isolation.

They exist within broader systems that shape:

How value is created

Where risk sits

What is required to compete and endure

Understanding these systems allows founders and operators to make more informed, strategic decisions.

Forms This Takes

This work is expressed through:

Written pieces and analytical briefs

Longer-form research and position papers

Speaking, convenings, and industry dialogue

Fashion Law

Why Every Fashion Brand Needs an IP Strategy from Day One

Brand identity is your most valuable asset. Yet most founders wait until something goes wrong before they protect it.

Global Systems

The New Regulatory Landscape: What EU Rules Mean for Independent Brands

Sustainability due diligence, digital product passports, extended producer responsibility — the wave is coming.

Business Strategy

Structure Before Scale: The Foundation Fashion Founders Often Miss

Growth without structure creates fragility. The founders who scale successfully build the right foundations first.

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Strategic Advisory

Executive Education

Industry Insights

Structure. Ownership. Direction.

Knowledge for Building

Build It. Protect It. Own It.

Perspectives on the Business of Fashion

Why Every Fashion Brand Needs an IP Strategy from Day One

The New Regulatory Landscape: What EU Rules Mean for Independent Brands

Structure Before Scale: The Foundation Fashion Founders Often Miss

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