A fashion label that ceased trading last month owes $2million to hundreds of creditors, including a disgruntled investor and scores of furious customers.
Dubbed the ‘Airbnb‘ of designer dresses, Designerex, run by Sydney couple Kirsten Kore and Costa Koulis, was a platform connecting renters of high-end clothes with lenders.
It had been touted as a global success story after expanding into the US market – but last month Daily Mail Australia revealed that many lenders on the site were owed money.
Last month the company collapsed and ceased trading. The full extent of its debts have been revealed in a report to creditors by administrator Liam Bailey, managing partner at O’Brien Palmer.
The March 18 report showed that Designerex Group, which owns the intellectual property, and Designerex Services, which trades as a business, owe a combined $1.8million to 737 creditors.
They include local app developer Pixelforce (owed $200,000), the Australian Taxation Office (owed more than $335,000) and Australia Post (owed $33,600).
Mr Bailey said in the report that he intended to ‘sell the business of the companies or at the very least, sell the assets of the business’.
The potential sale might be structured by way of a Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA), he said.
Dubbed the ‘Airbnb’ of designer dresses, Designerex was run by Sydney couple Kirsten Kore and Costa Koulis
Dozens of small business owners who had lent clothes through the site were also owed thousands of dollars.
Brittany Courtney, 21, who runs the Brisbane hire business ABC Dress Hire, was owed $4,000.
‘They just don’t pay us,’ Ms Courtney told Daily Mail Australia last month.
‘I don’t know if I’m ever going to see this money. We’re just giving out our services for free. The founders are living a life of luxury and they really couldn’t care less.’
Ms Kore and Mr Koulis have insisted that a legal dispute with Pixelforce is to blame for the missing payments.
‘The dispute with Pixelforce has impacted Designerex and its users,’ Mr Koulis said last month.
‘Pixelforce had contacted and pursued Designerex to become their technology partner.
‘The issue arose, following on-boarding of all our sensitive data with Pixelforce, when a few months later they advised Designerex that they intended to build a direct competitor to Designerex.
Brittany Courtney, 21, who runs the Brisbane hire business ABC Dress Hire, is owed $4,000
‘Designerex was also asked to increase its retainer with Pixelforce, from $10,000 to $60,000 per month immediately and then to $120,000 monthly in 6 months’ time, if it did not agree to Pixelforce building a competitor, which as a startup Designerex could not do.
‘The flow on impact to Designerex has been extensive. It disrupted its technology development and Pixelforce subsequently also caused Designerex to enter into a lengthy and costly legal dispute.’
Pixelforce CEO Hinney Lo denied that he ever intended to build a competitor.
‘We informed them in 2022 – out of respect and courtesy – that we had received a similar inquiry about developing a dress rental marketplace,’ he said.
‘This inquiry never materialised into a project, and from our founding in 2013 to the present day, we have never developed a direct competitor to Designerex.
‘Moreover, PixelForce has invested $200k in cash in Designerex under the same terms as other investors.
‘It is unreasonable to attribute Designerex’s financial disruptions to PixelForce. On the contrary, it is in our best interest for Designerex, like all our startup clients, to succeed.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Kore and Mr Koulis for further comment.
