Arent Fox Adds Los Angeles Fashion & Retail Partner James Williams
Arent Fox is pleased to announce the expansion of its Fashion & Retail practice with the addition of Partner James Williams in Los Angeles. Williams is a nationally-recognized advisor in the Textile, Apparel, and Luxury Goods industry with two decades of experience as a corporate lawyer, strategic advisor, and global fashion CEO. He focuses on M&A, corporate finance, formation, and governance for consumer brands and private equity.
Williams joins the firm from TRAUB, one of the world’s pre-eminent fashion/retail-focused management consulting firms where he served as Managing Director and was responsible for leading the US West Coast consulting practice. Williams has extensive experience managing financial and strategic crises for brands ranging from startups to global household names and he routinely acts as personal strategic counsel to CEOs, fund managers, and LPs.
Arent Fox’s Fashion & Retail attorneys act as outside general counsel and regulatory and retail counsel for a number of well-known designer brands, including Diane von Furstenberg, Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin, Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Diesel, Fila, Marni, YSL, Balenciaga, Benetton, Escada, and Victoria’s Secret. The group announced earlier this year that it was guiding Valentino and Amazon through joint litigation and has been pioneering retail law during the pandemic for many of the US’s top brands.
Williams’ Experience
• Most recently, Williams was the Managing Director at TRAUB where he led the US West Coast consulting practice of one of the country’s pre-eminent consumer brand
• Before joining TRAUB, Williams led bohemian fashion brand, Planet Blue, growing the company from a local retailer to a global brand sold in over 100 countries, with more than 1 million subscribers, and ultimately selling the company to a private equity group in 2017.
• At Planet Blue, Williams was both the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, in addition to serving as CEO of Planet Blue’s Tokyo-based joint venture with Sanei International, one of Japan’s largest vertical apparel enterprises.
• Williams came to Planet Blue from Loeb & Loeb, where he served a corporate law partner and chair of the firm’s fashion practice group.
Education: Williams received his JD from the Southwestern University School of Law and his BA from the University of California.
