Journal Call For Submissions
The Journal of Fashion Law
and Policy in Africa
Exploring the legal, regulatory, and policy frameworks shaping African fashion, including intellectual property, counterfeiting, trade, and global expansion.
About the Journal
The Journal of Fashion Law & Policy in Africa is the inaugural annual publication of The Fashion Law Africa Summit (TFLAS), offering a peer-reviewed platform for research and analysis on the legal, regulatory, and policy dimensions of Africa’s fashion and creative industries. The Journal is designed to bridge scholarship and practice, supporting both academic inquiry and industry engagement.
As African designers, brands, and artisans expand locally and globally, they face persistent challenges, including counterfeiting, unauthorized reproduction of designs, copycat practices, uneven enforcement of intellectual property rights, and fragmented policy frameworks. This Journal seeks to document these realities, offering rigorous, policy-informed scholarship and analysis to strengthen protections for African creativity and foster sustainable industry growth.
The inaugural issue establishes the foundation for a yearly, continent-wide record of scholarship across East, West, North, Central, and Southern Africa, while situating African fashion in the context of international markets and global regulatory systems.
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Theme Overview
Africa’s fashion sector continues to grow in scale, sophistication, and international reach. Alongside this expansion, brands face legal and policy challenges that threaten the protection and monetization of their creative work. These challenges include design theft, counterfeiting, copycat practices, regulatory gaps, and fiscal or trade-related constraints.
This inaugural issue invites submissions that critically examine how law and policy shape the development, governance, and global competitiveness of African fashion. Contributors may explore legal frameworks, regulatory innovation, fiscal policy, investment, market access, or comparative approaches, and may adopt doctrinal, empirical, interdisciplinary, or practice-based methodologies. The goal is to advance the scholarly understanding of fashion law as a field that intersects intellectual property, trade, taxation, and cultural protection.
Suggested Areas of Focus
Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
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Protecting Creative Assets and Combating Counterfeiting: Legal strategies and enforcement mechanisms to address counterfeiting, copycats, and design theft.
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Intellectual Property Frameworks for African Fashion: Trademarks, copyrights, industrial designs, and protection of traditional and cultural expressions.
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Investment, Tax Policy, and Financial Incentives: Fiscal policies, access to funding, and incentives that support fashion enterprise growth.
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Trade Regulation and Cross-Border Market Strategies: Regional and international trade rules, customs compliance, labeling, and market-entry strategies.
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Regional Legal Landscapes: Comparative overview of laws and policies affecting fashion across East, West, North, Central, and Southern Africa.
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Expanding African Brands Globally: Legal and Operational Risks: Contracting, licensing, distribution, and IP enforcement challenges in international markets.
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Legal Recognition and Governance of Artisans and Informal Producers: Policies and protections for small-scale tailors, craftspeople, and local production networks.
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Cultural Heritage, Creative Ownership, and Ethical Use: Safeguarding traditional knowledge and cultural expressions while enabling responsible commercial use.
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Sustainability, Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility: Law, policy, and regulation supporting sustainable practices, fair labor, and social impact in African fashion.
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Policy Innovation and Creative Economy Governance: National and regional initiatives that leverage fashion as a tool for economic development, cultural diplomacy, and policy experimentation.
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Sustainability, Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility: Law, policy, and regulation supporting sustainable practices, fair labor, and social impact in African fashion.
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Litigation, Arbitration, and Dispute Resolution: Case studies and analyses of disputes involving counterfeiting, IP enforcement, contract breaches, and global expansion challenges.
How to Frame Your Submission
When preparing your manuscript, authors are encouraged to:
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Specify Methodological Approach: Indicate whether your research is doctrinal, comparative, empirical, or interdisciplinary, and highlight its relevance to African fashion law and policy.
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Demonstrate Practical Impact: Explain how your findings can inform policymakers, designers, industry stakeholders, or regulatory bodies.
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Include Case Studies or Real-World Examples: Illustrate your analysis with actual disputes, counterfeiting cases, enforcement challenges, or market expansion experiences.
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Consider Cross-Border and Global Implications: Address how African fashion interacts with international markets, trade regimes, or IP enforcement abroad.
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Address Ethics and Sustainability: Discuss responsible commercialization, fair labor, and sustainable practices where relevant to your topic.
Submission Guidelines
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Manuscript Length: 1,500–2,500 words
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Abstract: 150–250 words, including 3–5 keywords
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Format: MS Word (.docx), Times New Roman, 12-point font, 1.5 spacing
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Referencing: OSCOLA
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Originality: Manuscripts must be original, unpublished, and not under review elsewhere
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Review Process: All submissions will undergo double-blind peer review, followed by evaluation by the TFLAS Editorial Team to ensure scholarly rigor, clarity, and alignment with the Journal’s focus on African fashion law and policy
Important Dates
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Call Opens: January 2026
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Submission Deadline: 31 March 2026
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Notification of Acceptance: June 2026
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Publication: August 2026
Why Contribute
Publishing in the inaugural issue offers contributors the opportunity to shape the intellectual and policy framework of African fashion law, amplify their work through TFLAS platforms, and influence discussions on creative protection, trade, and regulation across Africa and global markets.
About TFLAS
The Fashion Law Africa Summit (TFLAS) is a leading platform advancing legal education, policy engagement, and brand protection for Africa’s fashion and creative sectors. This Journal extends TFLAS’s work by creating an annual, peer-reviewed record of scholarship addressing the evolving legal and policy landscape for African fashion.
For inquiries, please contact:
info@tflas.com
