Popular Australian women's activewear brand goes bust, owing millions to creditors
A popular Australian women's activewear company has gone bust, owing $13m to creditors.
Founded in 2014 by Leilani Chandler in Noosa, Exoticathletica is best known for its size-inclusive, vibrant and bright activewear and quickly became a popular choice for women across the country.
However, the brand filed for voluntary administration on April 9, turning to insolvency firm SV Partners Terry van der Velde and Matthew Hudson to search for potential buyers while they comb through the financial debris.
Commonwealth Bank – the secured creditor for the business – is owed $6.7m, while the brand owes unsecured creditors more than $6.2m.
This includes $211,000 to manufacturers Active Apparel Group, $311,000 to Andorra Australia, $447,000 to Dongguan Huachen Sporting Goods Co and $416,000 to D and J International.
The sporting brand also owes over $550,000 to e-commerce giant Shopify, $224,000 to American Express, $53,00 to PayPal , $136,00 to Invenco and $114,00 to Thread Collective Co.
Customers have suffered a loss of $172,000, and the Noosa-based business owes $800,000 to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
Employees have also been left $416,447 out of pockets, with $37,733 in unpaid superannuation.
Minutes from the first meeting with creditors on April 23 said the business would continue trading to 'maximise the funds recovered from the sale of stock'.
'The administrators also intend to list the business for sale shortly,' the minutes read.
'After the business is listed for sale, the financial position of the company and the anticipated return to creditors will be more certain.'
While the company's total assets are yet to be advised, the administrators estimate its stock to be valued at $2.5m.
'We have continued to trade the business to preserve its value, with the aim of maximising the return to creditor,' Mr Hudson said per Courier-Mail.
'This strategy has allowed the business to remain operational, thereby maintaining its goodwill, customer relationships and employee engagements.
'By trading the business, we have sought to facilitate a sale of the business as a going concern.'
Exoticathletica was founded by Ms Chandler in 2014 and was inspired by 'Brazil's fitness fashion culture, their celebration of feminine curves and bold designs that encourage women to express themselves'.
The brand is best known for its inclusive designs which aims to 'help women enhance and accentuate their bodies and unapologetically celebrate their uniqueness'.
Between April 2020 and April 2021, the brand found success selling a wire-free crop top, with more than 140,000 customers purchasing the $49.99 activewear.
A second meeting with creditors is expected to take place next week.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Media boss Greg Hywood looks back on cuts, mergers and stoushes
This week, Viv and Tim speak to Greg Hywood in the week he's announced his retirement from his role as Independent Chair at Free TV Australia. The former Fairfax CEO and newspaper editor has been in journalism and publishing since the 1970s when he started at the Australian Financial Review. He presided over period of intense cost cutting at Fairfax in the early 2010s and was CEO as the merger with NINE was put in place. He shares his views on whether that merger has worked and the state of publishing and commercial media in 2025. In another blow to music television, Foxtel has announced that MTV Hits, Nick Music, MTV Club, MTV 80s, and CMT music channels will stop playing at the end of June. TikTok has announced it is launching safety and wellness features including guided meditation sessions and George Clooney is bringing Broadway to America and the world's living rooms in a live streaming event of Good Night and Good Luck. Guest: Greg Hywood, Retiring Independent Chair of Free TV, former CEO of Fairfax and Editor and Publisher at the Australian Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
SBS Australia
5 hours ago
- SBS Australia
The government's super changes for high earners, explained
The government's super changes for high earners, explained Published 6 June 2025, 8:24 am New research into the government's plans to increase the tax on high-income earners' superannuation has revealed it could eventually apply to half a million Australians. Labor is moving to pass its contentious plan for 30% taxes on earnings for multi-million dollar balances when parliament returns. SBS Chief political correspondent Anna Henderson explains.
News.com.au
6 hours ago
- News.com.au
Criterion: IDP Education's share plunge is a harsh lesson for the overseas student industry
The student recruiter has been hit by the migration backlash not just here, but in Canada, the UK and the US Other listed colleges are tweaking their business models to focus on domestic students While there's no end of the pain in sight, some brokers reckon IDP Education is a buy at its marked-down valuation It's not unusual for a small cap stock to decline 50% in value or more in one day. But when the top 200 stock IDP Education (ASX:IEL) achieved that this week – erasing more than $1 billion of market value – it was a case of 'class, take note'. The dramatic plunge came after the overseas student wrangler's confession on Tuesday that full-year revenue and earnings would plummet on the back of visa crackdowns. The stock has lost an astonishing 75% over the last year. Arguably the downgrade was years in the making, given the quality issues besetting both the tertiary and vocational sectors for some years. Still, investors were shocked by the scale of the revision or maybe they just hadn't done their homework. IDP guided to a 28-30% decline in student placement volumes, with its language testing arm likely to fall by 18-20%. Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (ebit) are expected at $115-125 million, a circa 50% year-on-year decline and well shy of market expectations of $166 million. Trump-like 'regulation by fiat' The visa crackdown was contained in a bill that the old Parliament did not pass, but government went ahead via a Trump-style Ministerial Directive (MD107). The measure means visa applications are processed on the perceived risk of the education provider and the student's country of origin. Dubbed by college operator Academies Australasia (ASX:AKG) as 'regulation by fiat', the measure compounds the problems of providers with high visa rejection rates. The reasons for the knock-backs are likely to be beyond the colleges' control. Nowhere to hide as migration policies bite IDP's problems don't start and end at home. Half-owned by sandstone universities, the company started out as a local uni recruiter but now touts for colleges in the UK, Canada and the US. Half of the company's revenue deriving from English language testing and teaching. The UK is even more zealous on reducing migration, as is Canada given the backdrop of the recent close election. We'll simply call US a no-go zone, given Trump's order to block Harvard University from admitting international students. Heeding the lessons IDP is not the only ASX-listed, overseas student focused education play feeling the pinch. It's a case of accepting the new reality and adapting. The amalgam of Icollege and Redhill Education, NextEd Group (ASX:NXD) reported a $2.2 million first half loss, amid a 21% revenue decline (to $47 million). However Nexted offset some of the impact of a 52% English language services decline with increased international vocation enrolment. The aforementioned Academies managed to grow half year revenue by 2.8% (to $23.9 million). The company also narrowed a previous $7.5 million loss to a $958,000 deficit. Operator of the Ikon (tertiary) and ALG (vocational) colleges, EDU Holdings (ASX:EDU) gets a gold star by doubling calendar 2024 revenue to $42 million. The company also managed a $2.6 million profit after three years of losses. Gary Burg told last month's AGM the impact of the visa changes remained unclear and the company was focusing on the domestic student market. A free kick of the 'political football'? Despite the IDP sell down there's still a country mile between its $1 billion market cap and the circa $20-40 million valuation ascribed to the other providers. As with all harsh sell-offs, have investors have over-reacted? Broker UBS contends IDP's business model is unbroken and the company 'remains a high-quality business in challenging conditions'. The firm rates the stock a 'buy' with a price target of $4.95, implying around 40% of upside. IDP is undertaking a detailed business review, with an update promised at its August full-year results. At Academies' AGM last year, acting chairman Chiang Meng Heng decried the sector being turned into a political Sherrin. 'Certain comments being bandied about smack of populism, rather than carefully considered positions that are good for the country,' he said. 'The air may not clear until after the federal election.' More than a month after the poll, clarity awaits.
