LCF Founders Club members invited to exclusive brand building breakfast at The Ivy Club

LCF Graduate Futures were delighted to welcome the return of in person events by hosting the first dedicated Founders Club networking event of the academic year, as part of the Founders Insights series. The Founders Club is made up of LCF alumni business owners and freelancers, who offer bespoke products and services; spanning from fashion tech and wearables to photography and even patisserie!

Organised in collaboration with Sheridan’s law firm, this event brought together Founders members and industry over a panel discussion on the ‘dos and don’ts’ of brand building and Intellectual Property (IP). Conversations continued afterwards over breakfast, all in the stylish setting of The Ivy Club.

Chaired by Andrew Bravin, a partner at Sheridans Law firm, the panelists brought together a wealth of experience and insights into creative processes and business management. The panel featured:

• Nicholas Daley, the award-winning designer and Central Saint Martins graduate
• David Leigh, co-founder of the XYZ. Exchange
• Francesca Shepherd, senior counsel at IMG
• Rich Evans, co-founder of Rich London

The core themes of the discussion noted the authenticity of embracing individuality in your craft and the importance of IP in the digital age. Ultimately, the panel suggested that when establishing a brand its identity, vision and mission – it must be in line with your own personal interests and values. In the words of Nicholas Daley, you should be striving to “create your own narrative”. Rich Evans wholeheartedly supported this sentiment, stating a brand's identity

"has to be from the heart, with emotion and a good connection”

Living through this age of accelerated digitisation, with the backdrop of artificial realties becoming more and more common, researching and testing new ground is paramount to ensuring the originality of a brand and its success. But what comes in tandem is the protection of your brand and minimising the risk of copyright controversies. For Andrew Bravin, one of the main takeaways he wanted the audience to leave with was

“Your mindset should be ‘I don’t want people to own my work’ - Always check the terms and seek advice if unsure.”

Whether working in collaboration with large-scale brands, fast fashion or emerging designers, it is important to learn about intellectual property in relation to your work. Ensuring that brands are dating design records and patenting their collections, designs and any trademarks is the advice given by Andrew. His firm, Sheridans, is a leading media and technology law firm who assist designers and businesses, including some of the event’s panelists! Acknowledging that IP law can be complex to navigate, panelist Nicholas called for the audience to show resilience and “keep pushing forward if products are copied”, advising them to “learn about IP through collaboration and knowledge exchange”.

It is exactly this sharing of expertise, which Founders Club members in attendance at the event, found so useful. One graduate commented

“it’s so helpful to hear about this stuff that we don’t specialise in, it’s really heightened my awareness.”

All of the Founders Club members found the intimate networking opportunity valuable, with many of the attendees mentioning “spending time with like-minded people was great” –after so long without face-to-face activities. With Term 2 fast approaching, LCF Graduate Futures are looking forward to planning of the next instalment of LCF Founders Insights events.

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