Kristen and Costa’s fashion start-up Designerex has been touted as a global success story – but Aussie customers are furious over the glamour couple’s ‘sneaky’ act

EXCLUSIVE 

Aussie fashion startup Designerex has been touted as a global success story – but many women say they’re owed thousands of dollars and the company is ignoring their pleas for payment. 

Dubbed the ‘Airbnb’ of designer dresses, the website is a peer-to-peer sharing platform for high-end clothes. 

Sydney couple Kristen Kore and Costa Koulis founded the company in 2016 as co-CEOS, having formerly worked together in real estate.

Since then the pair have been featured in business profiles, podcasts and panels – celebrated as ‘disruptors’ of the fashion industry – and the company has expanded into the US market. 

But behind the glittering publicity, many Aussie women – small business owners who lend dresses through the platform – have told Daily Mail Australia that they’re owed money and Designerex has a history of withholding cash.

Brittany Courtney, 21, who runs the Brisbane hire business ABC Dress Hire, said she is owed about $4,000 for bookings dating back as far as eight months ago. 

Lenders are supposed to be paid within 7-14 working days of a booking, according to the company’s website. 

‘They just don’t pay us,’ Ms Courtney said.

‘I started noticing it about a year a half ago. If you email them, you just don’t get a response – one day I sent them 15 emails.’

Ms Courtney has started hitting ‘decline’ when a renter tries to hire a dress from her through Designerex.  

‘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. 

‘I don’t even think they keep track of it. They just hope you don’t realise – it’s sneaky.’

Nikki Hobson, 34, is also owed $4,000 for bookings from last year. She runs the Brisbane hire business n.lend. 

‘The payments are incredibly delayed and it’s been really stressful,’ Ms Hobson said.

‘It means my cash flows are significantly capped. I’m not able to pay myself a salary, I’m not able to pay my bills, I’m not able to plan for the future.’

Ms Hobson said she and her partner are constantly chasing Designerex by email and phone.

In response, they’re given ‘technical excuses’ about why the money hasn’t arrived yet.  

‘If you ask them a direct question, it’s never an actual response – it’s speaking in circles, passing the buck.

‘They’re dealing with young women who aren’t particularly business-savvy, so they’ve probably gotten away with it for a really long time.

‘These are mostly women that they’re affecting, who work extremely hard and deal with a lot of day-to-day stress as it is.’

As for women who were hiring clothes on the site, Ms Hobson said ‘their money is not going where they think it’s going’.

Ms Hobson’s stress has reached the point that she recently had a ‘breakdown’ over the phone with Ms Core, but the $4,000 still hasn’t appeared, she said.

Another lender, Elle, a small business owner from Melbourne, said she is owed $3,000 for November bookings.

Elle said Designerex has been claiming for years that it is processing payments manually while it introduces automation, but she believes it has ‘clear cash flow problems’. 

She said the way the company presented itself to the public was hypocritical. 

‘Their marketing on the site says they make it easier and safer for women to rent dresses.

‘It’s certainly not a safe site when you’re withholding thousands of dollars from multiple people who helped build your business. It leaves a really bad taste in your mouth.’ 

Elizabeth Harrington of lizzie.lend in Brisbane, who is owed about $760, said she was incredibly frustrated with the co-founders.

‘It’s always been slow to pay and now it’s been we’re not getting paid,’ Ms Harrington said. 

‘They’re completely celebrated, but they’re ripping people off.’ 

She said she had been calling Ms Kore and Mr Koulis every week and had only been ‘drip-fed $100 here or $100 there’. 

‘It’s been horrific. I’ve got about 35 messages to Kirsten that have gone unanswered.’ 

Another lender, Priya from the Gold Coast, said she was owed $600 from July last year and the company was no longer responding to her.

At first, they responded to her emails with ‘false promises,’ insisting the money would be paid, but ‘now they just don’t reply at all,’ she said. 

‘For the people who own the dresses it’s a horrible experience. Out of principle it’s not right – they’re stealing.’ 

Designerex co-founder Ms Kore said in a statement that she was ‘extremely disappointed’ to hear of the women’s frustration. 

‘We acknowledge that some have experienced payout delays, and we sincerely apologise to them for any inconvenience this has caused,’ she said.

‘Unfortunately, a significant technology and business partnership dispute, drastically delayed our technology development, and has had a flow on impact.

‘Despite these challenges, our team is actively working to resolve any queries as quickly as possible.’ 

Ms Kore added that the company had paid ‘millions of dollars in revenue to women around the country’ since launching in 2016. 

A spokesperson for NSW Fair Trading confirmed the consumer watchdog had received two complaints about Designerex.

‘NSW Fair Trading carefully assesses all complaints to determine if investigation and/or enforcement action is appropriate,’ the spokesperson said.