Hong Kong designer sues Prada for US$5 million over abandoned Rolls-Royce project

A Hong Kong-based Belgian designer is taking fashion powerhouse Prada to court, claiming at least US$5 million in damages for the alleged repudiation of a partnership agreement to redesign a series of Rolls-Royce cars for exhibitions and events worldwide.

In a High Court lawsuit filed on Thursday, Jonathan Riss accused the Italian brand of breaching various written and verbal agreements to jointly develop a marketing initiative which he said Hong Kong-listed Prada unilaterally abandoned for accountability reasons.

Prada chairman Patrizio Bertelli, his fashion-designer wife Miuccia Prada and their son Lorenzo Bertelli, who serves as the firm’s executive director, were also named as defendants in the writ seen by the South China Morning Post on Friday.

Riss, whose real name is Jonathan Thierry Colin, is the founder of luxury fashion brand Jay Ahr and has gained a reputation for collaborating with international brands including Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Rolls-Royce.

The designer maintains a studio in an industrial building in Wong Chuk Hang in Hong Kong Island’s southern district. Ahrsenal Limited, the automotive arm of Jay Ahr, was named as the second plaintiff in the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers said Riss was initially engaged by Patrizio Bertelli in February 2024 to transform Prada’s Galleria and Nylon bags, before the two parties agreed to work on a neo-prototype concept incorporating the signature elements of Prada and Jay Ahr.