A padded jacket from Prada, purchased by a Korean customer in November 2023, is seen in this photo with white discoloration spots. [YONHAP]
The Korea Consumer Agency on Thursday said it has ordered Prada to fully refund a customer for a luxury padded jacket that developed white discoloration spots after just one use, escalating a two-and-a-half-year dispute over alleged product defects.
The agency ruled that the jacket was defective and unfit for normal use. Prada had rejected earlier findings pointing to a manufacturing flaw and offered to refund only 60 percent of the purchase price.
The consumer purchased the jacket for 4.15 million won ($2,800) at a Prada store in a Seoul mall in November 2023, according to the agency.
However, the customer noticed multiple white spots appearing all over the jacket shortly after its first wear.
The consumer requested customer service support from Prada multiple times over the course of a year, but the fashion house allegedly refused, claiming that "the cause of the issue is unclear and the product shows no defect."
After a prolonged dispute with Prada, the consumer requested a review by the Korea Consumer Agency in January 2024 and then sought another review from the agency’s textile product review committee in January last year.
A pedestrian passes by a Prada store in a department store in Seoul on Feb. 11, 2025. [YONHAP]
The committee sided with the consumer.
"The issue appeared to stem from a manufacturing defect in the product itself," said the committee. "The responsibility lies with the seller and [the committee] recommends [the seller to provide] compensation under consumer dispute settlement standards."
Prada, however, rejected the committee’s findings.
“The results of the textile product review committee cannot be trusted,” Prada argued. “We will refund only 2.49 million won, which is 60 percent of the purchase price, after taking the period of use into consideration in order to resolve the dispute amicably."
The consumer rejected the proposal, arguing the jacket had barely been worn because the spots appeared almost immediately after purchase. The consumer then filed the case with the consumer dispute settlement commission.
The Korea Consumer Agency [YONHAP]
The commission determined that the repeated appearance of the spots despite the consumer’s various efforts indicated the jacket was defective and could not be considered fit for normal use.
Based on that finding, the commission ruled that Prada should pay the consumer the full purchase price of 4.15 million won.
The ruling came roughly two years and six months after the jacket was purchased.
"We are currently waiting to see whether the company will accept the mediation ruling, so it is still unclear whether the mediation process has been finalized,” a Korea Consumer Agency official said.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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