According to figures by Fashion United, the fashion industry is worth around £1.65tn globally. Creativity is often upheld as a niche human quality, however, the rise in the use of artificial intelligence (AI), risks eliminating a number of creative and fashion jobs. A paper prepared by PwC for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, predicts that technology threatens devastating job losses over the next 20 years in wholesale and retail; transport and logistics; and manufacturing. The report suggests that as many as 30% of UK jobs could disappear within this period. A high-level exploration of how AI is and could affect the fashion sector moving forward.

So what should the British fashion business be doing to ensure that the industry retains both its economic clout and "soft power" in the wake of Brexit? Firstly, if you haven't started preparing for Brexit, this issue needs to move to the top of your agenda right now.

We might leave with a trade deal in place, we might not. There might be a transition period, there might not. But one thing is certain, now is the time to start preparing yourself for B-Day and what better way to do this than by attending a talk about how your intellectual property rights might be affected by the biggest political event of a generation?

Intellectual Property rights within fashion form a crucial foundation to the industry and have the potential to generate material value for fashion designers. However, the impending loom of Brexit is generating widespread fear throughout the industry. Fear of what the effect of exiting the EU will be on UK IP design rights, and how this could damage the UK fashion and design industry.
 
The main concern is the potential loss of the protection provided by the Unregistered Community Design Right. This could, in turn, undermine the global prominence of events such as London Fashion Week.