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Parallels

The fusion of art, fashion, tech and philanthropy.


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The fashion industry and the art world have long broken boundaries together, collaborating to achieve creative and commercial success. We only have to look to Piet Mondrian paintings inspiring Yves Saint Laurent’s now iconic cocktail dresses in 1965, to the admiration of Jackson Pollock that has marked Erdem’s rise to fashion fame.

Technology has similarly changed the landscape of art transactions. Art is now bought and sold online, and some companies are using Blockchain technology to record the provenance of art or to authenticate artworks.

Socially conscious art and engaged philanthropy offer some interesting parallels as well. Although the world’s most iconic works and beloved museums would not exist as they are today without personal and institutional philanthropy, we may see the classic patronage model return as a new breed of social entrepreneur and new concepts of impact investing emerge.

The collaborative nature of our global art team, together with Withers’ various other practices, can benefit clients in a constantly changing world. We create the contracts that work in the background to quietly enable the world’s leading creatives and everyone around them to collaborate. This allows our clients’ projects to flourish, and where these industries do combine, to make sure the relationship thrives.

Insight

HEAD OF ART LAW

Diana Wierbicki

"We were having this internal dialogue about similar legal issues that the art, fashion and technology industries were facing, so we decided to come up with this idea of a Parallels campaign to share some of those similarities with others outside of the law firm. What can we learn from all of the various industries that we here at Withers serve? That's the intentions of Parallels."

Our team

Giulia Cipollini

Giulia Cipollini

Partner | Milan

Giulia Cipollini

Partner | Milan

Private client and tax

Gina Bibby

Gina Bibby

Partner | Los Angeles

Gina Bibby

Partner | Los Angeles

IP, commercial and technology

Alana Petraske

Alana Petraske

Partner | New York

Alana Petraske

Partner | New York

Charities

Graham Webster

Graham Webster

Partner | London

Graham Webster

Partner | London

Corporate

Roberto Bonomi

Roberto Bonomi

Partner | Milan

Roberto Bonomi

Partner | Milan

International corporate tax

Steven J. Chidester

Steven J. Chidester

Partner | San Diego

Steven J. Chidester

Partner | San Diego

Private client and tax

Chris Priestley

Chris Priestley

Partner | London

Chris Priestley

Partner | London

Charities

Kimberly Pallen

Kimberly Pallen

Partner | San Francisco

Kimberly Pallen

Partner | San Francisco

Litigation and arbitration