Purely Byron, a beauty brand co-founded by Elsa Pataky and backed by Chris Hemsworth, has collapsed and gone into administration.
The company, which offers skincare products inspired by the raw beauty of the Byron Bay area, is 47.4% owned by BWX brands, the same company that owns 48.5% of Zoe Foster-Blake’s cult beauty company Go-To.
BWX also looks after other popular beauty brands such as Sukin.
Foster-Blake sold 51.5% of her business to BWX for $89 million in 2021 and had been expected to sell her remaining share to the same company for a similar amount.
However, the value of her share was written down by $30 million in December after BWX recorded a staggering $336 million loss during the 2021-22 financial year.
BWX revealed last month it bled another $100 million in the first half of the current financial year with the company’s chief executive Rory Gration stepping down.
Purely Byron’s struggles are the latest to plague BWX, which bills itself as being a ‘house of natural brands at the forefront of the global natural beauty and wellness movement’.
Purely Byron’s website currently has the words ‘coming soon’ underneath each of their products, and the company’s actual future sale remains unclear.
Pataky’s current role within the company is also uncertain.
Despite Pataky repeatedly spruiking the high-end brand to her 5.4 million followers, she has never been appointed as a director of Purely Byron, and any arrangements she has with the company are strictly confidential.
Cameron Gray and Justin Holzman from DW Advisory were appointed as administrators to Purely Byron on Friday.
They have stated that the business operations of Purely Byron are currently suspended while the administrators offer the business and assets of Purely Byron for sale.
Purely Byron has shared two Instagram posts since going into administration, which were quickly inundated with customers demanding answers as to whether the business was still running.
The company’s latest woes are expected to again severely reduce the value of Foster-Blake’s 48.5% share of Go-To, with BWX retaining the option of buying her out, according to reports.
Purely Byron was co-founded by Pataky, a Byron Bay local and Spanish-born actress who lives in the popular holiday destination with her husband and three young children.
She was revealed as the brand’s co-founder last year, alongside Jacqueline Rosen Weisz as chief executive and Kate Norbiato as brand director.
On the Purely Byron website, Pataky said she first got the idea for a skincare brand in 2019, but that her plans were halted during the Covid lockdowns.
In 2021, the team started testing products and strategizing their launch with the actress becoming the face of the Byron-born brand.
»Purely Byron, a beauty brand, collapses«
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