2021 Winners
Congratulations to all of the Winners:
BRANDS: Brand Protection Leader of the Year
Amanda Beaton, Jaguar Land Rover
Described as a dynamic and forceful leader of her company’s brands and IP team, the judges were also impressed with this Amanda’s no-nonsense business approach including winning a ground breaking IP infringement case in China.
BRANDS: Business Leader of the Year
Joanne Loughrey, L’Oréal
This year’s award goes to a lawyer who has taken a leading role in creating a Code of Conduct for Influencer marketing aimed at raising standards in this £5 billion industry. Joanne Loughrey of L’Oreal is this year’s winner for playing a pivotal role in this important industry initiative.
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BRANDS: Luxury Entrepreneur of the Year
Sophie Dunster, Gung Ho
The judges looked for an entrepreneur creating products which embodied the future. The winner does exactly that – walking the talk on sustainability and the environment, supporting carefully selected causes and embracing the ethos of giving back. Sophie’s next move is to create circularity with customers returning clothes for remaking and upcyling.
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IN-HOUSE LAW: IP Counsel of the Year
Sandra Georges and LVMH Fashion Team
Sandra and her team have won praise for their strategic planning and effective communications skills which were particularly noteworthy when they won an outstanding result on a lengthy IP enforcement action in Taiwan.
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IN-HOUSE LAW: Legal Team of the Year
Charlotte Tilbury
Building on the success of last year’s majority investment by Puig, this legal team has been experiencing both growth and success from expanding in region and size and functions in the last year from Asia to North America whilst managing operations in a pandemic.
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IN-HOUSE LAW: Luxury Law Rising Star
Nikita Patel, Fashionphile
As the first lawyer employed inhouse at her company, this rising star has in her first 18 months helped the company through a $38.5 million dollar Series B funding whilst helping launch a number of key initiatives. Nikita has shown true entrepreneurship in her ability to roll up her sleeves and assist in every aspect of the company’s business.
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IN-HOUSE LAW: The Marella Naj-Oleari Luxury Business In-House General Counsel of the Year
Kate Palka, Goodwood Estate
Kate impressed the judges with her strong leadership and business acumen at a time of crisis. From helping expand the business to resolving a number of IP conflicts and driving the promotion of racing globally, this all-round GC has uniquely ensured the appropriate international IP protection for the Group’s curatorial, photography, and digital design departments.
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Lifetime Achievement in Luxury Law
Arrigo Cipriani
No individual epitomises luxury like Arrigo Cipriani. Steeped in the history of luxury – from therenowned Harry’s Bar in Venice, founded in 1931 by Arrigo’s father Giuseppe Cipriani, Arrigo took the, business international with the opening of Harry’s Bar in New York. Several other US venues followed, with over a dozen hotels and restaurants under the Cipriani brand now located around the globe from London to Hong Kong. However, not only is Arrigo a business legend, he is also a lawyer, novelist and writer – a true Renaissance man. No-one deserves the Lifetime Achievement in Luxury Law Award more than Arrigo, the ultimate luxpreneur.
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Sustainability Initiative
Bottletop
Bottletop set out from the beginning with a mission to empower people and planet through sustainable design and creative culture and certainly delivered on this front. From handbags made from uncycled bottled tops in Kenya to upcycled metal ring pulls, the company now has its own atelier and training programs in Brazil and Nepal and strives to source the finest sustainable and upcycled materials in challenged parts of the world.
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PRIVATE PRACTICE: Best New Luxury Law Firm Practice
Loeb & Loeb
This firm’s Luxury Brands practice has achieved an impressive list of luxury clients in a short period of time. As the industry evolves, Loeb & Loeb is helping its luxury clients expand in innovative ways partnering with hotels, restaurants, automobile manufacturers and others to extend their reach and diversify their brands.
PRIVATE PRACTICE: Luxury Law Firm of the Year
Bird & Bird
Bird & Bird has demonstrated its credentials in the luxury arena over many years with independent client research ranking them top for client satisfaction. With many of its team members from luxury brands, the firm is particularly adept on advising luxury on tech and prides itself on its collaborative approach and ability to offer innovative solutions.
PRIVATE PRACTICE: Partner of the Year
Arthur Artinian
Arthur has built a reputation in luxury and fashion law which is second to none. With a client list spanning iconic fashion houses, design, art and luxury consumer brands, he has embedded himself in his clients’ businesses and he is seen as a business advisor for his clients as he operates front and centre at their global strategic decisions. From advising Coty on the global launch of Kylie Jenner cosmetics and global partnerships with Vera Wang, David Beckham and Hugo Boss to advising Nike in a high-profile ongoing dispute with Puma, this partner is a deserving winner of Luxury Partner of the Year.
PRIVATE PRACTICE: Rising Star
Laure Sawaya, Pryor Cashman
This award goes to an associate whose firm attributes much of its success in luxury, entertainment, art and music to this rising star. Laure has taken the lead on numerous client relationships having moved from an inhouse position at Vince and bring the ‘voice of the client’ to her position at the law firm.
SERVICE PROVIDER: Brand Protection
Alex Urbelis, Crowell Moring
This winner designed and engineered a brand protection and cybersecurity monitoring platform that scours the entire globe’s domain name system (DNS), identifying early stage indicators of cyberattacks, impersonation, counterfeiting, and other malicious activities. With clients in fashion, healthcare, sports, financial services, and critical infrastructure, in 2020 he was able to put his platform to work for the public good and made international headlines when he identified a live, state-sponsored hacking attempt on the World Health Organization. By February 2020, he realised that sophisticated cyberattacks relating to Coronavirus would be forthcoming and wanted to help clients and public-sector institutions stay ahead of these attacks. Using the DNS protection platform, he altered the algorithms in response to the pandemic and began tracking early-stage indicators of cyberattacks and misinformation.
Deal of the Year, sponsored by Deloitte
LVMH
LVMH deals team has worked on some of the most significant luxury transactions in recent times. From the acquisition of Tiffany and Emilio Pucci to deals with Off-White, Etro and Tods, the inhouse team at LVMH has certainly had a busy few years and have been lauded for their approach. Congratulations for being the winners of the Deal team of the year.
Best new initiative
Martina Spetlova
This company’s approach is helped by the founder’s biology and chemistry background which challenges materials, elements and expectations. Martina has focused on ethical sourcing throughout the supply chain and with transparency in mind, has added cutting-edge technology to products, a scannable chip detailing materials, sourcing and processes, giving each design a digital life story.
Luxury Design
Jim Rokos
We were looking for a designer who has created a product that answers a luxury problem, shows conceptual design thinking and displays superior execution with a luxury feel. This designer has been creating inventive home décor in the luxury space. His Guage vase takes on the behaviour of the flower whilst his wine decanter mirrors the behaviour of its users. His products are both artistic and practical and are undoubtedly original.