Crumbling Australian activewear brand Stax owes customers more than $1.7m in unfulfilled orders while staff and other creditors are waiting on thousands in outstanding payments, a new report shows.
Stax entered receivership in June, with Joseph Hansell and Asjadi Hone of FTI Consulting now in control of the business and its assets, as they search for a buyer.
Brian Silvia and Michael Hird of CasCap Advisory were appointed as liquidators earlier in July.
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A preliminary liquidators report to creditors in recent days said 12,927 customer orders worth $1,713,986 were yet to delivered.
Of those, Stax has 11,182 unfulfilled orders worth $1,405,723, and an additional 1745 partially-completed orders with $308,263 still outstanding.
Positive outcome ‘must be regarded as speculative’
The liquidators are assessing if some of the remaining customer orders can be fulfilled from available stock but warned a positive outcome ”must be regarded as speculative”.
More will be known over the next two weeks.
“We have engaged with Shopify, Stripe, Afterpay, PayPal, Klarna and Zip to determine their exposure to potential chargebacks,” the liquidator said.
Stax has $1,184,634 worth of stock “on hand”, but $971,942 of that is held by third-party logistics provider, Shiparoo.
“Shiparoo is owed up to $400,000 in fees and asserts a lien over this stock, which it will not release unless its claim is satisfied,” according to the report.
“A separate container of stock, at cost of approximately $100,000, has been paid for but has not yet departed the manufacturer in China.”
Staff entitlements
According to the report, Stax staff are owed more than $450,000 — including $389,524 in employee entitlements and $63,557 in superannuation.
“Priority employee entitlements of $389,524 are expected to be met by the receivers and managers … with any shortfall remaining a priority claim in the liquidation,” the report said.
Liquidators highlighted that NAB is the largest creditor of the companies, with its debts totalling $7,337,467.
Business lender Bizcap is owed $1,882,681, and Wayflyer Finance holds a “security interest” over the company’s accounts under a merchant cash advance facility, “with debts totalling $3,914,203”.
Stax is in the red for $23,769,514 in liabilities to secured and unsecured creditors, according to liquidators.
STAX was famously launched from a room by husband and wife duo Don Robertson and Matilda Murray. Credit: Instagram / Matilda Murray
Stax was a once thriving Australian activewear brand founded in 2015 in Perth.
Launched by Don Robertson and Matilda Murray, the pair went on to feature on the Australian Financial Review’s Young Rich List, when their turnover was reportedly more than $30m annually.
The business sold its products through online, retail and wholesale channels, attracting celebrity wearers.
”At its peak Stax operated approximately 14 physical stores, including a flagship location opened in February 2025 inside Westfield Sydney on Pitt St and employed up to 140 staff in total,” the liquidators said.
“Stax progressively closed a number of these stores through 2025 as trading conditions softened, retreating to two stores (Westfield Sydney and Westfield Liverpool) by the latter part of that year.
The founders issued a statement in mid-July, saying they understood customers were “frustrated and disappointed” by the company’s demise.
“Many of you are frustrated, disappointed and understandably upset that your orders remain unfulfilled,” they said in a joint post on Instagram.
“I want you to know that we have heard you.
“First and foremost, we’re truly sorry for this and for not communicating earlier.
“Stax was built over more than a decade with an incredible community and knowing that so many of our customers have been impacted is something we carry every day.”
A more detailed statutory report will be issued by liquidators to creditors and ASIC by October 10.
Bad news for customers as owners of crumbling Aussie activewear brand speak out
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