If we really care about protecting the people who make the things we wear and use, we need to raise wages for workers in supply chains to above the poverty line. Our research shows that this only requires a 20-cent increase in the Australian retail price for a T-shirt made in India. This small increase can lift wages by up to 225 percent in India, closing the living wage gap for the most vulnerable workers in the supply chain, such as cotton farmers. The living wage gap is the difference between a living wage and current wages.

Political fashion – whether it be Barak Obama-themed dresses in 2008, anti-Muslim ban wares, or t-shirts speaking to American immigration policies – has been trending on the runway. Meanwhile, in D.C., the Supreme Court’s nine justices took on a case early this year that centers on the legality of wearing politically-charged garments and accessories to the polls, after the Minnesota Voters Alliance challenged a law banning voters from wearing a “political badge, political button, or other political insignia” inside a polling place on Election Day. 

PART III – Upon learning of LVMH’s quiet 17.1 percent stake in the closely-held Hermès, the French financial services watchdog, Autorité des marchés financiers ("AMF") initiated an investigation of LVMH's investment in November 2007. The following year was occupied largely by a formal investigation by the AMF, as well as strongly-worded legal battles initiated by both LVMH and Hermès. In July 2012, Hermès – which called LVMH’s acquisition “the largest fraud in the history of the French stock market” – filed a criminal complaint against LVMH in a French court, accusing the luxury conglomerate of insider trading, collusion and manipulating stock prices.

In something of a déjà vu case on the heels of H&M being accused of featuring a graffiti artist’s work in one of its ad campaigns, Oakley is currently embroiled in a legal mess of its own for including graffiti in a marketing campaign without the authorization of the graffiti artists. According to a lawsuit filed late last week in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Donald Robbins and Noah Darr – who might be better known as “Keptione” and “DJ Rakus” – claim that Oakley “unlawfully [took] their original artwork” and splashed it all over its ad campaigns, inside its retail outposts, and in product catalogs.

In a non-descript workshop in Asnières-sur-Seine, a quiet suburb just northwest of Paris, a Toile Monogram-covered metallic case meant to house a 36 centimeter trophy has been in production. The workspace belongs to Louis Vuitton, and the one of a kind carrying case – the official World Cup Trophy Travel case – is destined for Moscow. It is one of between 450 and 600 special orders – "the most exceptional requests" – that the LVMH-owned brand accepts each year.

Supreme sent heavily branded puffer jackets, red and white logo-ed hoodies and other sportswear, as well as an array of soon-to-be sold-out accessories, down the runway this week in an elaborate show to debut its “Winter 2018” collaboration with Chinese streetwear brand OXN. The collection – with its strong references to Supreme’s earlier collab with Louis Vuitton – is the result of what Guangzhou-based OXN is calling a “strategic partnership” with Supreme.

Indie, no more. Dries Van Noten, the founder of one of fashion last big-name independent brands, has sold a majority stake in his eponymous label to Puig, the designer and the Spanish group confirmed on Thursday. According to a statement from the two, Puig will serve as "the majority owner alongside Dries [Van Noten], who remains, over the long term, a significant minority shareholder.” They further announced that Mr. Van Noten – the Belgian design great and member of the legendry Antwerp Six – “will continue as chief creative officer and chairman of the board.”

Luxury brands are becoming increasingly more controlling as to where their authentic goods can – and cannot – be sold and how entities should be forced to help them fight the sale of fakes. And courts have largely been in their side. A landmark ruling from the European Union’s highest court late last year – which held that U.S. cosmetics company Coty Inc. may legally block retailers from selling its products on online platforms, such as Amazon and eBay – served as a reminder of just how far many of these sought-after names are willing (and legally able) to go to hold on to their carefully crafted auras of exclusivity.

Kanye West’s Yeezy brand is not going down without a fight in the copyright infringement lawsuit filed against it this spring. You may recall that in March, just a month before West urged his Twitter followers to “feel free to take ideas and update them,” Columbus, Georgia-based, Jordan Outdoor Enterprises ("JOE") alleged that West took a handful of its copyright-protected camouflage prints for his Yeezy Season 5 collection but did not bother to make any updates.

Industry experts agree: Himalaya Birkin bags are some of the “most important handbags in the world." These wildly rare and eye-poppingly pricey bags – which are manufactured and initially sold exclusively by Paris-based luxury stalwart Hermès (which only relies on direct retail, as opposed to utilizing any wholesale accounts) – are certainly known for their matte white Himalaya crocodile skin. But maybe even more so, they are well-known for their marked tendency to break auction records as the "most valuable" and most expensive handbags in the world.