Barbara Kolsun is One of the Nation’s Most Influential and Successful Fashion Attorneys

Personal Life

Barbara Kolsun is General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Stuart Weitzman Holdings, LLC, a well-known luxury shoe designer. She started the company's first in-house legal department and she manages all legal issues, which include intellectual property. Prior to Stuart Weitzman, Ms. Kolsun was General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Seven for All Mankind, LLC, an apparel and luxury denim company, and of Kate Spade, LLC, a lifestyle and luxury handbag company. She also served as Assistant General Counsel of WestPoint Stevens, Inc., a home textile company, and Assistant General Counsel of Calvin Klein Jeans.


Prior to launching her career as in-house counsel, Ms. Kolsun spent twelve years as a litigation and intellectual property lawyer at a number of New York law firms, including Burrows & Poster, Dechert, Price & Rhodes (now Dechert, LLP), Amster, Rothstein & Ebenstein, LLP, and Gursky & Associates, P.C. Ms. Kolsun is admitted to the Connecticut and New York Bar, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Second and Eleventh Circuits, and to the United States Supreme Court.

Ms. Kolsun was born and raised in Bristol, CT. She graduated with a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and earned her J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Ms. Kolsun was a Trustee at Sarah Lawrence College from 1999 to 2007, President of the Sarah Lawrence Alumni Association from 1999 to 2003, and she was the recipient of an Alumni Citation for Service in June 2007.

After graduating from law school, she served as a pro se law clerk for the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. Ms. Kolsun is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor at NYU Law School and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law where she teaches Fashion Law. Ms. Kolsun was an Adjunct Associate Professor at Fordham Law School. She also has lectured at New York Law School, Brooklyn Law School, and the University of Chicago Law School.

In addition to her teaching engagements, Ms. Kolsun has spoken and published about the subject of trademark infringement and counterfeiting. In November 2009, she spoke at the International Forum on Intellectual Property Protection of Design, which was hosted by the Universidad de Los Andes, School of Architecture and Design, Bogota, Colombia. In November 2008 and 2009, Ms. Kolsun lectured to the State Intellectual Property Office of China at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law. She spoke at the Fashion Marketing 2007 Conference held in Sao Paolo, Brazil and the International Herald Tribune Luxury Conference in Istanbul, Turkey in December 2006. In 2003 and 2004, Ms. Kolsun also ran workshops in cities in Vietnam in connection with the drafting of the country's criminal and civil procedure code as it relates to intellectual property enforcement. The workshops were conducted as part of STAR Vietnam, a USAID program.

Ms. Kolsun co-authored and co-edited the first textbook on fashion law, Fashion Law - A Guide for Designers, Fashion Executives, and Attorneys, published by Fairchild in 2009. The second edition will be released in 2014. Her article entitled "Indirect Infringement and Counterfeiting: Remedies Available Against Those Who Knowingly Rent to Counterfeiters" was featured in the Cardozo and Entertainment Law Journal at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Ms. Kolsun also wrote a chapter in Trademark Counterfeiting called "Building A Comprehensive Anti-counterfeiting Program," which was published by Aspen and the International Anti-counterfeiting Coalition (IACC).

Ms. Kolsun served as Chairman of the Board of the International Anti-counterfeiting Coalition and is well known for her passionate stance and pioneering work on anti-counterfeiting. As a result, she has been interviewed in a number of publications, including "Other Voices - Women Leaders Boost Profit" (Barron's, September, 2006), "Fighting Fakes" (Journal News, June, 2006), "Barbara Kolsun: Counterfeit Cop" (Women's Wear Daily, May, 2006), "Kate Spade's Top Lawyer Takes on Counterfeits" (Harpers Bazaar, January 2005), "The Purse Party" (Time Magazine, August 2, 2004), "A Pit Bull Who Lunges at Brand Counterfeiters" (NY Times, November 13, 2002), and "Handbag Maker Takes Aim at Knockoffs" (NY Times, October 29, 2002).

Ms. Kolsun is a member of the Advisory Board of First Step, a job training program of Coalition for the Homeless. In November 2000 and March 2002, she was honored and received the Volunteer Recognition Award by First Step. Ms. Kolsun was a professional singer and actress from 1970 to 1979.