A top Russian supermodel is suing designer Ralph Lauren for $20 million. The model claims that Ralph Lauren and his brand used her likeness without her consent.
Ralph Lauren lawsuit
The 41-year-old model, Anastassia Khozissova, featured on Vogue's pages and modeled for Karl Lagerfeld and Vivienne Westwood, filed the lawsuit in New York, according to News Break.
Khozissova spent a decade on catwalks for Ralph Lauren. She once dated Oscar Pistorius; alleges that the label continued to use pictures and film of her without her permission and without compensating her.
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The suit states that Khozissova uncovered an elaborate fraud scheme within the Ralph Lauren Corp. That scheme led to the model being ousted from the company. The lawsuit also included HBO, which is currently streaming the documentary "Very Ralph," in which the model is featured.
Legal papers filed by Khozissova's team, as seen by the New York Post, say that the model joined Ralph Lauren in 2004 after the fashion designer personally approached her and asked to use her as the company's muse.
Khozissova worked closely with the fashion house over the next decade, walking every show that it put on and appearing in numerous campaigns.
However, in 2014, the lawsuit alleges that Khozissova uncovered 'an elaborate fraud scheme within Ralph Lauren Corp' that led to her being ousted. As a result, the model suffered severely, including lack of ambition, loss of sleep, and a severe career crisis, the lawsuit claims.
Who is Khozissova?
Khozissova was born in Saratov, located on the Volga River in southern Russia, in 1979. Southern Russia was then the Soviet Union.
The daughter of a taxi driver father and doctor mother, the model left education when she was just 17 years old to pursue her dream of becoming a model. She made her debut at a Giorgio Armani runway show in Milan, Italy.
Khozissova then went on to model for Prada, Chanel, Dior, Alexander McQueen, Chado Ralph Rucci, and Dolce & Gabbana, before Ralph Lauren picked her up.
While working for Ralph Lauren, the model lived in New York, where she was rumored to be dating Oscar Pistorius in 2012. She also founded the Maybelline Stiletto Boot Camp in the same year. The boot camp is an online course to help aspiring models learn how to walk on the runway.
In 2014, Khozissova left Ralph Lauren and moved to California, where she became a qualified raw food vegan chef and healthy lifestyle expert.
Khozissova also graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and the Matthew Kenney Culinary School, also known as PlantLab. It is not clear why the model has waited years until she filed her lawsuit.
A spokesman for Ralph Lauren told Dailymail that the model's lawsuit is entire without merit.
In August 2020, Ralph Lauren sues the insurer for $700 million over a restricted business loss claim. The company saw first-quarter losses of $112 million, and its revenue dropped 66% compared to last year. Ralph Lauren's wholesale business for the first quarter of the year saw a drop of 93%.
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