Some TV shows live forever not just because of their plots but because of their costumes. Think of Friends star Jennifer Aniston as Rachel, whose mint-green dress from season three is still talked about today. Or take Sarah Jessica Parker as Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw, whose designer-heavy wardrobe featured a newspaper-print dress by Dior. These outfits and characters made fashion history and helped shape the styles of their day.
The same can be said about the Netflix series Emily in Paris, which returns for its fifth season on 18 December. This time we’ll see Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) traveling to Italy – and, with references to Sophia Loren, Anita Pallenberg and Sharon Stone, her dazzling wardrobe is already the talk of the fashion magazines such as Vogue.
WIPO Magazine soaks up the buzz to explore how the fashion we see on television is shaped and protected by intellectual property (IP).
The affair between fashion and TV is not new. In 2009, Gossip Girl, a popular US teen drama, inspired an apparel collection created by fashion designer Anna Sui for high-street retailer Target.
In Sex and the City, which ran from 1998 to 2004, Carrie Bradshaw was almost synonymous with Manolo Blahnik shoes. In the 2008 feature film, Mr. Big proposes Carrie with a pair of Blahnik’s then newly designed Hangisi pumps, helping to make it the world’s most sought-after shoe. Since then, the Hangisi has been produced in more than 100 colorways and materials. Blahnik even dedicated a capsule collection to the show for the 10-year anniversary of the Hangisi and the moment that made it famous.
Sartorial fandom often sees fans trying to emulate their favorite characters by dressing like them. The success of fashion-driven TV shows, then, established a template: when clothing becomes central to a series, it becomes an asset worth protecting.
Emily in Paris has enthusiastically embraced this model. Its costumes are carefully curated, strategically licensed, and increasingly monetized. The show’s IP strategy offers a valuable case study in how copyright, industrial design rights, trademarks and licensing converge in modern screen fashion.
Copyright in Emily in Paris
Emily Cooper isn’t just a character, she’s a brand – and her wardrobe is central to the way viewers understand her. Good costume design conveys character details and can showcase everything from identity and social status to personal evolution. The show’s lead costume designer, Marylin Fitoussi, is “in the business of creating identities and characters through clothes, regardless of whether or not they are name-brand or on-trend,” writes InStyle.
Emily’s eclectic early looks, for example, featured an Eiffel Tower-print blouse that highlighted her outsider enthusiasm as an American in Paris and her ignorance of Parisian haute couture. In season three, though, Emily adopted more understated Parisian styles that reflected her growing assimilation into French culture, with Fitoussi drawing inspiration from icons such as Françoise Hardy and Jane Birkin.
To craft the Emily in Paris aesthetic, Fitoussi uses bespoke pieces and collaborates with established and emerging designers in building each character’s world. Like all original costume design, Fitoussi’s work is protected in the EU through copyright – specifically under the moral rights of the costume designer – ensuring that she retains ownership of it and safeguarding the integrity of her creative vision.
Protecting clothing in television through copyright, however, is legally complex. In the US, clothing is treated as a “useful article,” which means only decorative elements that can exist separately from the garment, such as embroidery or graphic artwork, are eligible for copyright protection as per the US Supreme Court decision Star Athletica v. Varsity Brands . Silhouettes, cuts and overall styles remain unprotected, leaving many TV costumes vulnerable to copying unless they incorporate logos or trademarks.
European copyright law, especially following the 2019 Cofemel decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union, recognizes copyright in any fashion design that expresses the author’s intellectual creation. As a result, artistic fashion designs, including those created for film or television, may qualify as copyrighted works if the subject matter is original and is identifiable with sufficient precision and objectivity.
Under the EU design registration, costumes can benefit from an unregistered EU design right, which lasts three years; costumes that meet the requirements for a registered EU design may be protected for up to 25 years.
For a globally distributed show such as Emily in Paris, these jurisdictional differences demand a parallel IP strategy. Costumes that may be unprotected in the US can enjoy robust design and copyright protection in the EU through the protection the designer is granted for their work, as noted in Volume 32 of the Cardozo Arts and Entertainment Law Journal by Francesca Montalvo.
Strategic partnerships and collaborations
The show’s original costume designer, Patricia Field – a legend of the industry who also styled Sex and the City and The Devil Wears Prada – hired Fitoussi as costume consultant due to her connections to European fashion.
Fitoussi took the reins from season three and continues to blend haute couture, emerging European labels and bold theatricality to create recognizable looks. Many of the show’s pieces are sourced from Parisian brands such as Weinsanto and Germanier, while others are custom-made – each requires rights clearance and agreements before it can appear on screen.
To secure such rights, Emily in Paris relies on strategic partnerships. Season three’s costumes alone incorporated more than 14,000 fashion pieces from 250 brands, according to the Business of Fashion. The series has reportedly given global exposure to emerging designers such as the above, as well as Egon Lab and Ludovic de Saint Sernin. With Netflix available in more than 190 countries, a single on-screen moment can lead to immediate spikes in search interest and sales.
You could call this conscientious product placement. In an article for Elevated Living, Fitoussi explained how she works with fashion brands whose designs, she believes, suit the characters’ aesthetics. For example, luxury Swiss brand Thaden helped her “craft some of the show’s most unforgettable fashion moments.”
While appearance is never guaranteed, this “earned placement” model offers designers enormous visibility and provides the show with unique, character-appropriate pieces.
Items that display visible trademarks, however, usually require structured product-placement agreements, and the show’s producers may have to seek limited licensing or clearance in order to feature them on screen.
Using trademarked goods in scripted content requires permission, and displaying logos or distinctive brand identifiers without authorization could raise infringement concerns. By establishing clear collaborative arrangements, TV productions can ensure legal compliance while presenting wardrobes that feel aspirational and authentic.
Paying homage to classic Audrey Hepburn outfits
Beyond contemporary fashion, Emily in Paris also looks to the past. Some of the show’s most visually – and legally – arresting costumes have been inspired by the iconic looks of Audrey Hepburn.
In an interview with the Art of Costume, Fitoussi explained that the show’s looks have been a tribute to Hepburn since season one, through deliberate reinterpretations of the actor’s on-screen wardrobes.
Season one referenced the 1957 musical Funny Face by reimagining Hepburn’s all-black silhouette in a more modern style. Season four updated the tailoring of the 1953 romantic comedy Roman Holiday and nodded to 1963’s Charade by adopting its alpine stylings.
These tributes highlight the ways productions must navigate copyright boundaries. Under US and EU law, reproducing a copyrighted costume may constitute a derivative work and therefore require permission from rights holders. Instead, Fitoussi and her team adapt fabrics, proportions and styling details to create costumes that are recognizable yet legally distinct.
The work of the Emily in Paris costume department demonstrates the creative space that is available to costume designers when referencing public cultural memory – emulating “look and feel” and referencing silhouettes or thematic elements is generally permissible, so long as specific artistic expression is not copied.
It’s a reminder that iconic outfits remain protected by intellectual property, and that their legacy must be approached with legal diligence.
Emily in Paris merchandising and licensing
Emily in Paris extends its fashion identity through robust licensing initiatives and collaborations with Parisian ateliers, emerging designers and global retailers that enable fans to purchase apparel inspired by the show.
These officially licensed products channel the series’ aesthetic while ensuring that the Emily in Paris brand and related imagery are used in controlled, brand-positive ways.
Licensing merchandise serves dual purposes: it protects the brand by distinguishing authentic goods from unlicensed reproductions and generates revenue. The success of these collections reflects a wider industry trend in which costumes move seamlessly from screen to store, supported by clearly defined IP agreements.
The studio also protects intellectual property that emerges from the series, such as fictional characters. This practice has become increasingly important as character elements feed into licensing and merchandising opportunities.
In 2023, a third party registered “Pierre Cadault”, the name of the show’s fictional couturier, as an EU trademark for fashion goods. The following year, the production successfully invalidated the filing as being made in bad faith.
This case illustrates that even invented fashion houses can acquire real commercial value, and that protecting marks for fictional characters may be worthwhile to secure future licensing deals, merchandise lines and brand extensions tied to Emily in Paris.
This merchandising and licensing extends beyond the show too. Recent seasons introduced a “shoppable content” experience through a Netflix-Google collaboration that allows viewers to identify Emily’s outfits through image-recognition technology and purchase similar pieces. This innovation transforms IP into a revenue engine where garments worn on screen become commercial products.
In fashion-heavy productions like Emily in Paris, IP is not an afterthought; it is the infrastructure that protects creative investment, manages brand relationships and enables new revenue opportunities.
Whether safeguarding custom costume designs, negotiating rights for luxury-brand placement, enforcing trademarks born from fictional characters or reimagining historical fashion icons, the show highlights the way IP can shape and shield the fashion we see on screen.
By blending creativity with legal strategy, Emily in Paris reveals a broader truth: in contemporary television, the most memorable looks are not only well designed, they are well protected.
To learn more about intellectual property in fashion visit the dedicated WIPO page.
