The new owners of Stax are relaunching the activewear brand with a new leadership team and a customer goodwill program.
Stax collapsed into receivership earlier this year, with the liquidator’s report showing more than $24 million in liabilities. The brand assets were then acquired by a private Australian investor group led by Justin Truong and Sandy Li-Truong.
The new owners are the entrepreneurs behind Australian hype e-commerce marketplace Pushas, which has reportedly been scaled into an eight-figure business. The new investor group is independent of Pushas, which remains separately owned and operated.
Marketing executive Anna Cheng has been appointed as CEO of the Stax brand, while Georgia Bachmann – who served as head of product at Stax up until its collapse – has been promoted to creative director.
Cheng was, up until recently, the AU director of marketing at car rental marketplace Turo.
As part of the relaunch, Stax is honouring past customer orders that were unfulfilled up to its collapse earlier this year. These unfulfilled orders will be switched into store credit for customers on a one-for-one basis.
Management said it was not legally required to assume responsibility for these orders, but it chose to do so as a gesture of goodwill to the customer base.
According to management, affected customers will receive an email later today inviting them to log in and check their credit balance. The same email will invite customers to join the Stax waitlist for early access to the brand's launch collection.
Past reports indicate there were 13,000 unfulfilled orders after Stax fell into receivership.
Customers can use their credit until June 30, 2027. Most affected customers have already confirmed their order details, and those who haven’t have until December 31, 2026 to confirm or update them.
The program does not include customers who paid through a third-party payment provider, as Stax doesn’t have visibility of any refunds those providers may already have issued. These customers are being encouraged to use their provider’s standard dispute or buyer protection process, with Stax offering to help with information about their order to support their case.
“Every great consumer brand is really in the business of making people care, not just making products,” CEO Anna Cheng said. “What’s changed is how you earn that. It used to be enough to have decades of history behind you; today, brand loyalty isn’t inherited, it has to be renewed with every generation, because culture moves that fast.”
Cheng said that even category leaders are learning that being biggest doesn’t automatically mean being relevant. “That’s the opening we see for Stax,” Cheng said. “We’re focused on the principles that never go out of fashion: reliable delivery, high-quality product and empathetic customer support, and on building with community at the centre, not just volume.
“For us, that means giving our customers something to be part of, not just something to buy. Our first job is proving that to our loyal Aussie customers: Stax is back, the product is better than ever, and we’re operating the right way. The ambition to scale comes after we’ve earned that trust.”
The brand’s website is expected to begin selling again on November 6 at 9am, when it launches its first collection under new ownership, called “Girls Gone Wild”. Stax’s website landing page is calling on customers to join a waitlist to receive a password for early access on November 5 at 7pm, ahead of general release.
According to management, the outdoors is having a fashion moment, with the upcoming collection delving into that space. The new range will include key fabrics such as Nandex and Airlyte.
"This collection is about stepping into unfamiliar territory and finding your way – which is exactly what Stax is doing right now,” Georgia Bachman said. “It felt like the only honest way to relaunch.”
Bachmann added that she returned to the label because she is invested in the brand’s community.
“There's something surreal about watching a sketch on a screen become a piece someone's actually wearing at the gym, giving them confidence,” she said. “That's what I missed most. Coming back means the pieces our community fell in love with aren't gone. They're back, and better than ever."