Riccardo Tisci Accused of Sexual Assault

Summary

• Riccardo Tisci, former creative director at Burberry and Givenchy, has been accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a man in June 2024.
• The New York Supreme Court filing details Patrick Cooper’s memory of spending time out with Tisci and friends, and being brought back to Tisci’s apartment, where the assault took place.
• A spokesperson for Tisci has denied the allegations.

On Tuesday, a legal complaint was filed in the New York Supreme Court naming Riccardo Tisci for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting a man on June 29, 2024.

According to The Independent, the 11-page filing from 35-year-old Patrick Cooper recounts the day Tisci assaulted him following a night out in Manhattan. The man had met Tisci through a mutual friend and went clubbing with his friend and the designer. Cooper claims that Tisci, former creative director of Burberry and Givenchy, discreetly put a drug in his drink at Harlem restaurant 2 Sisters 4 Brothers, leaving him “unable to fight, stop or defend himself.” The alleged victim told the Independent that he was “so disoriented as to no longer know where he was, what he was doing, or what other people, particularly [Tisci], was [sic] doing to him.”

Cooper states that he was brought back to the designer’s SoHo apartment, where Tisci held him against his will and assaulted him. “My intentions were never to end up in Riccardo Tisci’s bed. When I woke up, he was kissing me,” he continued. Following the alleged “predatory, sexual and unlawful assault and battery,” Cooper said that he woke up naked next to Tisci the next morning. Cooper subsequently went to the hospital for a rape kit test and immediately contacted the NYPD to file a report.

However, a Tisci spokesperson vehemently denied the allegations. “These allegations are categorically untrue. Riccardo looks forward to clearing his name of these false and malicious accusations. He will obtain vindication through due process,” the source said.

The 50-year-old Italian designer was appointed as creative director of Givenchy in 2005, famously working with musicians like Ye and Jay-Z. Tisci was then appointed at Burberry in 2018, where he led a dramatic rebrand. Since 2022, when the designer stepped down from the English label, he has relaunched his namesake label and unveiled new collaborations with Nike in 2025.

As of the time of writing, Riccardo Tisci and his spokespersons have not released any official statement on the pending case.