KK Press – the Australian publishing house behind T: Australia and the short stint relaunch of Cosmopolitan Australia – owed just over $420,000 to creditors when it called in the liquidators earlier this month.
Documents filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and obtained by Ragtrader show that a decent portion of the $420,540.94 owed can be paid from the $157,535.17 in assets, which includes $873.22 in cash on hand and $156,622 in sundry debtors. The latter are those who owe money to KK Press. The documents do not share who these are.
Minus the sundry debtors, the total owing by KK Press drops to just under $300,000.
KK Press also owes around $24,000 in staff wages to four staff, and $6,552.98 in staff entitlements.
The largest creditor owed includes the tax department, with a sum of $290,000. Other creditors include various creatives across graphic design, copywriting, styling and the like.
Including staff, the full list covers 38 creditors, with five owed between $10,000 to $16,000, 14 owed four-figure sums each, and three figures for the rest.
KK Press was founded in late 2020 by Katarina Kroslakova after five years of leading The New York Times. In 2024, her company secured rights to relaunch Cosmopolitan in Australia, but that was then wrapped up in January this year, a few weeks before the overarching company called in the liquidators.
Kroslakova confirmed the wind-up across her social channels, saying that despite the closure, her publishing house is ending on a high.
“In just seven months, Cosmopolitan Australia became the most widely read Women’s Lifestyle Magazine,” Kroslakova said.
“T Australia achieved 25 per cent year-on-year readership growth, a remarkable achievement in a highly competitive market.
“My team not only brought nostalgia back, we energised the sector. When we launched, the excitement and support from the media industry and readers was like anything I’ve experienced before. I will treasure it forever. But it’s not easy.”
According to Kroslakova, “cash flow was brutal”, which had led to the decision to wrap up the business. But she made a plea to the industry and consumers, saying it must thrive.
“If we lose magazines, we lose more than just the publications themselves; we lose voices, culture, and the stories that shape who we are,” she noted.
KK Press’ collapse and the wrap-up of T: Australia and Cosmopolitan Australia also follow a raft of collapses across the fashion industry in recent years, including Bondi-based resortwear label Le Salty, Jeanswest, Ally Fashion, Harrolds and Queensland-based activewear brand Exotic Athletica.