Trigger warning: This article contains references to sexual assault.

Italian fashion designer Riccardo Tisci has been accused of sexual assault, according to a lawsuit filed with the Supreme Court of the State of New York on Tuesday.

In the filing, Patrick Cooper accused Tisci of drugging his drink while out at an East Harlem restaurant on June 29, 2024 and then bringing Cooper back to Tisci’s home where the designer then “prevented [Cooper] from leaving and sexually assaulted him.” Cooper alleged that he then awoke naked with Tisci also naked beside him, according to the complaint. Cooper claimed that he was “unable to reject, fight, stop or defend himself” from Tisci’s “predatory, sexual and unlawful assault and battery” due to the drugs. 

The Independent first reported the lawsuit filing on Wednesday. In an exclusive interview, Cooper told The Independent he “just went out to have a good night. My intentions were never to end up in Riccardo Tisci’s bed. When I woke up, he was kissing me.”

In a statement provided to Fashionista, a spokesperson for Tisci addressed the suit, calling the allegations “categorically untrue,” and adding, “Riccardo looks forward to clearing his name of these false and malicious accusations. He will obtain vindication through due process.”

Cooper is seeking compensatory and punitive damages “in a sum exceeding the jurisdictional limits of all lower courts which would otherwise have jurisdiction of this matter, together with attorney’s fees, costs and any and all further relief that the court deems just and proper.” A rep for Cooper’s legal counsel at Held & Hines, LLP did not immediately respond to Fashionista’s request for further comment.

Tisci served as Burberry’s chief creative officer from 2018 to 2023, and previously helmed Givenchy from 2005 to 2017. He is currently represented by United Talent Agency. 

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