Fraud and counterfeiting cost the fashion industry over $50 billion a year, and the damage doesn't stop at lost revenue. When bad actors flood the market with fake products, brands make unsubstantiated claims, and supply chains cause even unintended material substitutions, consumers lose trust in the brands they love — and companies face regulatory penalties, lawsuits, and irreversible reputational harm.
Join the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA), FibreTrace, and the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham University for a conversation on the most pressing brand protection challenges facing the fashion industry today.
Fashion Law Institute Director Susan Scafidi will be in conversation with FibreTrace’s Head of Global Commercial Julianne Thibodeaux to examine real cases where brands suffered severe reputational consequences and explore the legal, physical, and technological tools brands can use to fight back, including how embedded fiber verification is changing what proof of authenticity looks like in 2026 and beyond.
Attendees will leave with:
- A clear understanding of the regulatory landscape driving accountability
- Real-world examples of how supply chain fraud and counterfeiting have damaged brands
- Actionable strategies for legal, operational, and physical brand protection
- A look at physical verification technology that closes the gap between claims and proof
This webinar is essential for compliance officers, legal counsel, supply chain leaders, brand managers, and anyone responsible for protecting a fashion brand's integrity and consumer trust.
Speaker:
Julianne Thibodeaux- Head of Global Commercial, FibreTrace Technologies
Julianne Thibodeaux is Head of Global Commercial at FibreTrace Technologies, where she leads market expansion, enterprise partnerships, and revenue strategy for the traceability infrastructure that enables real-time material verification across the textile supply chain. She is a trusted partner in helping brands combat counterfeiting, meet regulatory and sustainability requirements, and protect brand reputation through verified sourcing and accountable production.
Julianne brings a rare combination of legal expertise, technical fluency, and global sales leadership to the traceability space. She holds a Master of Studies in Law (Fashion Law) from Fordham University School of Law and a BS in Apparel Design from Louisiana State University, where she also serves on the Industry Advisory Board for the Textiles, Apparel Design, and Merchandising program. A frequent speaker, she covers supply chain transparency, compliance, digital innovation, and the future of verified materials.
Susan Scafidi- Academic Director of the Fashion Law Institute
Susan Scafidi is the first professor ever to offer a course in Fashion Law, and she is internationally recognized for establishing the field. She has testified before the U.S. Congress regarding the proposed extension of legal protection to fashion designs and continues to work with government officials and stakeholders in the fashion industry on this and other issues. Her additional areas of expertise encompass property, intellectual property, cultural property, international law, and legal history.
Professor Scafidi founded and directs the Fashion Law Institute, the world’s first center dedicated to the law and business of fashion. A nonprofit organization headquartered at Fordham Law School, the Fashion Law Institute was established with the generous support and advice of the Council of Fashion Designers of America and its then-president, Diane von Furstenberg. On behalf of the Fashion Law Institute and Fordham, Professor Scafidi also developed another global first: degrees in Fashion Law, an LLM for lawyers and an MSL for non-lawyers.
Prior to teaching at Fordham, Professor Scafidi was a tenured member of both the law and history faculties at SMU, and she has taught at a number of other schools, including Yale, Georgetown, and Cardozo. After graduating from Duke University and the Yale Law School, she pursued graduate study in legal history at Berkeley and the University of Chicago and clerked for a distinguished legal historian, Judge Morris S. Arnold of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition, she has served as an expert witness in cases including Star Athletica v. Varsity, the dispute over copyrighted designs on cheerleading uniforms that resulted in a Supreme Court victory for the plaintiff; Navajo Nation v. Urban Outfitters, which was resolved through a settlement that included the parties announcing plans to collaborate in the future; and other matters including litigants such as Gucci, Givenchy, and adidas.
Professor Scafidi is the author of Who Owns Culture? Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law, as well as articles in the areas of intellectual property, cultural property, and of course fashion law. She also created the first website on fashion law, Counterfeit Chic, which was recognized as one of the American Bar Association’s top 100 blogs. Professor Scafidi is currently writing a book to be published by Yale University Press. In addition, she regularly speaks to legal, design, and academic audiences around the globe and has contributed analysis and commentary to hundreds of media reports on issues related to law and the fashion industry.