Making her own splash Violet dives into fashion IP law reform while her fella goes for gold
WHEN Violet Atkinson met Cameron McEvoy at Northcliffe Surf Club 13 years ago, she never imagined her life would one day involve front row seats at fashion week, catch-ups with Grant Hackett or trips to the Olympics.
But the 24-year-old commercial litigator is no trophy WAG to her two-time Olympic swimmer boyfriend.
She’s working to expand the rights afforded to Australian fashion designers under intellectual property (IP) law, has been published in the Oxford Journal of IP Law and co-founded the International Fashion and IP Law Symposium held annually in Paris.
With a schedule as jampacked as McEvoy’s, Ms Atkinson said the busy lifestyle suited the young power couple, who will celebrate their four-year anniversary on the eve of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
“Cam and I met at Northcliffe Surf Club doing nippers when we were 11,” Ms Atkinson said.
“I was homeschooled with my younger brother so I made most of my friends at surf lifesaving. We were friends for a long time and didn’t actually start dating until the day before he left for the Glasgow Games in 2014.”
While studying law at Bond University, Ms Atkinson scored a coveted gig as a research assistant to Cambridge alumnus Professor William Van Caenegem.
“In the third year of my law degree he (Prof Van Caenegem) came back from a trip to Europe and asked me to take on an IP law project with him and some people in Paris,” she said.
“In 2016 we were published in the Oxford Journal in Europe. What started as a sort of ‘let’s look into it’ exploded into a full-blown project that took over my weekends and outside work in my law firm.
“I realised pretty quickly that a lot of stakeholders in the fashion industry are unaware of their rights.
“So, Prof van Caenegem and I decided to launch an international symposium on the topic with our colleagues in Paris where we could get academics and industry professionals together to talk about the big issues.
“We held the first symposium in December 2016 at the Institut Francais de la Mode – the French Institute of Fashion – and we just convened the second annual symposium at the Australian Embassy in Paris where the ambassador talked about the importance of these issues.
“At the first symposium I was 23 and just lapping it up, you can’t read about this stuff (that was discussed) in books.
“We’ve had a great crosssection of attendees: the head of legal for Hermes, Burberry and Lacoste (and) the head of design for Cartier Jewellery.”
Ms Atkinson said Australian IP laws lagged behind those in Europe, leaving Aussie designers “out in the rain”.
“We have copyright law but it is difficult to have it apply to fashion ... in Australia, to get a design registered and therefore protected, you have to go to IP Australia and go through a long, really expensive process which is not suited to the fashion industry’s quick turnover,” she said.
“Europe has ‘unregistered designs’ where you can protect your work without having to go through that whole process. We’re now putting together a project with the Australian Fashion Chamber and the Council for Textiles ... to better understand how designers are navigating these (legal) issues and what can be changed.”
Ms Atkinson said she and McEvoy were both “super chill” and spent their Sundays off work at local cafes or with their groodle (golden retriever poodle) puppy Apollo.
“Cam’s a bit of a foodie so we go to all the local spots – we love breakfast at Bam Bam and Elk,” she said.
“We actually don’t talk about swimming. His schedule is packed with swimming six days a week so on Sundays we try to relax.
“He was away for two months last year ... we’ve got a photo sitting on the dining table of Cam shaking hands with the Pope. He also went to a ball hosted by the Prince of Monaco and he’s just so chill about it all.
“Cam spends a lot of time doing media and work with his sponsors, but really he just wants to swim.”
Growing up watching the Olympics on TV, Ms Atkinson never imagined she’d one day be hanging out with the likes of former champion swimmer Grant Hackett.
“It is pretty cool. My family loves sport and I remember watching the 2000 Olympics when people like Hackey (Grant Hackett) were racing,” she said. “I don’t know Thorpey (Ian Thorpe) as well, but we’re pretty good friends with Grant. We went out with him on New Year’s.
“They’re all really down to earth ... the media can sometimes blow things out of proportion. Grant Hackett is probably one of the nicest guys I know.”
Ms Atkinson, who also spends a lot of time working in court, said she hoped to marry up her passions for fashion and law.
“I work in commercial litigation for a Gold Coast firm (Cronin Litigation Lawyers) so I’m involved in a lot of court matters at a state and federal level,” she said.
“In the future I would like to implement what I know about fashion and IP law and have the ability to represent fashion brands and other creative businesses in court.”