Pamela Love is suing the beneficial owners of accessories retailer Alex and Ani for unpaid consulting fees, sales royalties and other damages.
The New York-based jewelry designer filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles lawyer Mark Geragos and investor Lyndon Lee on Wednesday in the Supreme Court of the State of New York for nearly $7 million after Love was granted a final partial award and an interim final award last December, which she alleges the Alex and Ani owners have not paid her.
The jewelry designer declined to comment through a spokesperson. Alex and Ani’s representative did not respond to request for comment.
Love was contracted in August 2023 by Alex and Ani as a consultant, enlisted to create products and consult creative direction for an agreed-upon fee of $21,000 a month for three years and up to $2 million per year in royalties.
The lawsuit alleges that Alex and Ani failed to pay Love her consulting fees or royalties, which led to Love seeking the arbitration that granted her the final partial award and interim final award. According to legal documents, Geragos and Lee did not provide any justification for withholding Love’s fees.
After the arbitration, the lawsuit alleges the owners “executed a years-old conspiracy to render Alex and Ani judgment proof” by assigning a lien to Geragos’ investment company, The Bathing Club LLC, to then foreclose the brand’s assets.
“The purported foreclosure was in name only,” the lawsuit claimed. “Employees of Alex and Ani were ‘laid off’ and ‘rehired’ on the same day. All officers stayed in their positions, and no operations changed.”
The lawsuit states that the Alex and Ani website continued operations as normal, continuing to use its name and logo. The Alex and Ani website also stated the business was still owned and operated by “Alex and Ani LLC.”
Love alleges the owners’ foreclosure was “part of a sham to defraud creditors,” with the lawsuit claiming they avoided paying for breaches of retail leases and vendor contracts by giving their investment company “priority liens on Alex and Ani’s assets” to “orchestrate a collusive foreclosure when judgement creditors were in sight.”
Ultimately, Love is seeking a minimum of $6.75 million in damages.
