Latest news with #PointPiper
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Inside blazing row over a prized 'Hermès handbag' worth $60,000 between one very unhappy buyer and a fallen Sydney 'It girl' socialite
A former celebrity stylist and one-time 'It' girl of the 2000s has now been accused of selling a $60,000 fake designer handbag to a Sydney client just months before she was arrested for allegedly forging prescriptions. Kelly Smythe, 47, now works as a luxury fashion sourcer, seeking out sought-after pieces from exclusive designer fashion houses for wealthy buyers, after her freelance styling work dried up. Last year, the New Zealand-born mother-of-one promised a rich client on Sydney 's lower north shore that she would find an ultra-rare Hermès Kelly bag that can cost up to $100,000. The client paid Smythe - who lives on Australia's most expensive street in Point Piper - $60,000 to source the exclusive status symbol, only to receive what she believes was a cheap fake. 'The bag she delivered is not an authentic Hermès bag,' the buyer, who asked not to be identified, told Daily Mail Australia. 'It might have been a "good fake" - but I forked out all the money in good faith that she would deliver the real thing. 'Even the packaging and the receipt were terrible fakes - one was covered in white-out.' The disappointed buyer has made repeated attempts to get her money back for more than a year, but has only been given a string of excuses in return. 'She kept finding new reasons for the authenticity of the bag, but none of it made sense and it was all just to stall me from pursuing things legally,' she added. It comes as a growing number of counterfeit products are now flooding the market online, often carrying convincing fake certificates of authenticity. Hermès will now only guarantee official authenticity of their bags if they are actually purchased directly from a Hermès store. They will not provide authentication certificates for items purchased elsewhere. Smythe told her buyer that she would need to send the bag to Hermès for them to inspect it at their headquarters in Paris. But she warned that the fashion house will destroy the bag if they deem it a fake, in order to permanently take it out of circulation. In text messages seen by Daily Mail Australia, Smythe urges the woman to send the bag abroad to have it certified. 'I insist you allow them to send it to Paris as the store [in Australia] is not allowed to authenticate it,' she said. 'Paris will burn it if it isn't real, then we can ask for your money back.' The woman has now launched legal action against Smythe to get her cash back but she wants to sound the alarm to stop others suffering the same fate she did. 'It's not the money, it's the principle. I don't want her to do this to anyone else.' Last month Smythe spent the night in custody before appearing before Downing Centre Local Court via video link after she was arrested for allegedly forging prescriptions. She was charged with two counts of using a false document to obtain property and two counts of obtaining or attempting to get a prohibited drug by false representation. A charge sheet showed Ms Smythe allegedly used a false letter and two fraudulent scripts to get dexamphetamine and lisdexamfetamine from the Paddington Compounding Pharmacy on Oxford Street on February 21 and May 15. Dexamphetamine medication is used in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy (sleep disorder), while Lisdexamfetamine treats moderate-to-severe binge eating disorder in adults. Smythe's barrister Charles Alexander lodged a release application on his client's behalf. 'She knows she needs to stay on the straight and narrow,' he told the court. Magistrate Sharon Freund said the police facts indicated there may be further charges pending, but no fresh charges had been laid. The magistrate granted bail but added: 'I suspect your client may have an issue with the drugs she has been self-prescribing.' Smythe, who wore gold-rimmed sunglasses during her video-linked court appearance, said: 'Thank you so much, ma'am.' The case will be back before the court next month. At the height of her career Smythe was a Seven Network stylist and the go-to fashion adviser to Sydney's elite, styling Miranda Kerr, Jennifer Hawkins, Jodi Gordon and Sonia Kruger. But after five years at the helm of the wardrobe styling department, Seven cut ties with her. With the local fashion industry teetering on the brink of collapse, Smythe struggled with freelance work and former friends say she vanished from the limelight. She tied the knot in 2011 with Alex Nikolaidis, 10 years younger than her, at St Mark's Church in the ritzy eastern suburbs enclave of Darling Point in front of clients and Sydney's society set including Roxy Jacenko, Holly Brisley and Chris Bath. The couple welcomed a son, now 14, a year before saying 'I do'. They are now divorced. Last month the petite former stylist was seen stranded on New South Head Road in Sydney's east after her car ran out of fuel and required NRMA roadside assistance. She was dressed in low-rise jeans, furry flats and designer sunglasses.
Daily Mail
18-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Heir to retail giant Lowes sells grand Sydney mansion for $23 million
A grand mansion on Sydney Harbour owned by Lowes clothing retail heir Joshua Penn has gone under the hammer for a whopping $23.5million. The sprawling four-bedroom, five-bathroom property located at Point Piper was originally snapped up by Josh's mother and father - Linda and David Penn - in 2021 for a cool $16 million. Josh, 37, who co-owns the home with his husband, Ben Palmer, first listed the 1905 era home for $28million. The couple and their two young children have been living at the exclusive address for three years while renovating another property in nearby Double Bay, reported The Wentworth Courier on Wednesday. According to property records, the retail heir's parents have maintained a 70 per cent stake in the mansion, which is known as the 'Capri'. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The sprawling four-bedroom, five-bathroom property, located at Point Piper, was originally snapped up by Josh's mother and father - Linda and David Penn - in 2021 for a cool $16 million Still, Josh Penn and Ben Palmer are listed as 'owners' of the land title on the beautiful sandstone and brick two-storey home. Featuring beautifully maintained classic features throughout, the dazzling home boasts stunning harbour views, a pool and an internal lift. Highlights include a formal entranceway with chandelier lighting and an oversized ground floor 'living room' which opens out to landscaped gardens. There's also a private dining room and a 'sitting room'. The second storey hosts all four bedrooms with the main bedroom occupying an entire corner of the first floor and includes a terrace, en suite, dressing room and 'sun room'. Other highlights include a 'rumpus room' which can be converted into a private office space. The sale comes after reports have surfaced that Josh and Ben, along with their children - son, six-year-old Brooklyn, and daughter, Blake, four - are considering moving to France. The Wentworth Courier reports that the young family could take on the task of renovating the Penn family getaway on the French Riviera. According to the publication, couple snapped up a four-bedroom, two-bathroom 'Spanish influenced' home in Double Bay for $6.7million in 2020 which they extensively rebuilt. They are now deciding to move in or move on to yet another property, which they have purchased in the eastern suburbs, or head to France. Josh and his mother Linda were recently seen at the Gold Dinner charity event. The Lowes Menswear CEO, who, alongside her brother and Lowes co-owner Jeffrey Mueller is worth a cool $400 million, held court at the glamorous do earlier this month. Linda heads the Gold Dinner Committee alongside her son Joshua, and rules the charity event with an iron fist. Every year an influential mix of business and philanthropic leaders attends - and the gala was once also littered with A-listers before mother and son banned them from the event. In the past, celebrities like Chris Hemsworth, Roxy Jacenko, Ian Thorpe, Hamish Blake and Karl Stefanovic made appearances on the red carpet. Gold Dinner co-chair Joshua revealed ahead of the 2024 gala that the event will shun celebrities going forward, as they 'don't seem to add much value'. He said that the attention is usually too much on the celebrities, rather than on the purpose of the event. The invitation-only gala is held annually at a secret location in Sydney and is given a unique theme every year.
News.com.au
17-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
2025 Sydney house price record broken twice in a week
The 2025 Sydney house price record has been broken twice in a week, with two sales totalling more than $110m. First came news yesterday via sources that the Point Piper mansion of Retail Apparel Group co-founder Stephen Liebowitz and his wife, Pam had sold for $55m, via Ray White Double Bay's Adam Reichman and Elliott Placks in conjunction with Michael Pallier of Sotheby's. The sale occurred last week but was being kept under wraps. And then, last night, an Instagram post from Ray White Double Bay's Riki Tawhara confirmed the sale of 38 Vaucluse Rd, Vaucluse, owned by 98-year-old philanthropist Isaac Wakil, that's sold 'above our guide of $55m'. MORE Whereas the first sale equalled the previous 2025 record $55m house price sale in February, of 12 Dumaresq Rd, Rose Bay, this latest deal exceeds that. The big sales must be exciting news for Ray White Double Bay principal, Elliott Placks, who had a hand in both deals, as he prepares to move into his new five-storey Double Bay HQ next month. Placks was tight-lipped about the buyers of both properties, citing NDAs, though it's known he had multiple buyers on both which helped create urgency. Still, the vendors had to accept considerable discounts on their previous price guides, with the Liebowitzs original guide of February, 2024, $65m. And although the most recent guide for the Vaucluse property may have been $55m, when it hit the market last month it was reported at 'around $70m'. The Dumaresq Rd, Rose Bay property that sold in February, owned by recycled shopping bag tycoon Frank Qiang Gengh and his wife Juanjuan Zhao, took a $20m price cut. Dyson Austen prestige property valuer Simon Feilich had a simple explanation for the recent rush of sales as the end of financial year approaches. 'The main driver is the low Aussie dollar and lower interest rates driving increased asset prices.' Isaac Wakil had owned the Vaucluse Rd 1400sqm property, with its house set for the demolition ball but with panoramic Sydney Harbour views, for 65 years. Isaac and his late wife Susan were both immigrants from Romania and Iraq and had no children.
Daily Telegraph
17-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Telegraph
Lowes heir Josh Penn and Ben Palmer's Point Piper home sells
Lowes heir Josh Penn and his husband Ben Palmer have sold their Wyuna Rd, Point Piper mansion for $23.5m. The couple, with son Brooklyn, 6, and daughter Blake, 4, are now understood to be focusing on renovating the Penn family's palace at Cap 'd'ail in the south of France, where they're intending on spending some time next year. And they're also now debating whether to move to their former Double Bay home, now rebuilt, or to another eastern suburbs mansion they've apparently purchased, that's 'quite substantial'. MORE: Hush-hush sale hits 2025 record MORE:Billionaire chicken heiress's record-breaking sale Penn and Palmer are listed as co-owners on the land title for Capri, the Edwardian residence at 4 Wyuna Rd bought for $16m in 2021, alongside Penn's parents David and Linda Penn who have 70 per cent ownership. But it's now sold via Monika Tu and Jad Khattar of Black Diamonz, with Tom Penfold of Cohen Handler known to have introduced the buyer. There'd initially been hopes of $28m. Penn and Palmer had been living in Capri during the three-year rebuild of their own home at 7 Carlotta Rd, Double Bay, bought for $6.7m in 2020, which is apparently 'incredible' and nearly ready to move into. No clue yet as to the location of this other 'quite substantial' property, which is yet to settle. The Wyuna Rd residence was previously owned by nursing-home scion Mark Moran and his interior decorator wife Evette. The historic home on a 723sqm block had harbour views, an internal lift, multiple balconies, manicured grounds and a pool. Penn and Palmer had initially intended to do major renovations, but ended up doing just landscaping the garden and adding lighting. Their good taste in furniture helped give the home extra zing. Josh Penn and mother Linda, the highly regarded philanthropist and CEO of Lowes Menswear that's worth $800m, recently raised a whopping $84.3m at the recent Gold Dinner for the Sydney Children's Hospital foundation.
News.com.au
17-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Lowes heir Josh Penn and Ben Palmer's Point Piper home sells
Lowes heir Josh Penn and his husband Ben Palmer have sold their Wyuna Rd, Point Piper mansion for $23.5m. The couple, with son Brooklyn, 6, and daughter Blake, 4, are now understood to be focusing on renovating the Penn family's palace at Cap 'd'ail in the south of France, where they're intending on spending some time next year. And they're also now debating whether to move to their former Double Bay home, now rebuilt, or to another eastern suburbs mansion they've apparently purchased, that's 'quite substantial'. Hush-hush sale hits 2025 record Penn and Palmer are listed as co-owners on the land title for Capri, the Edwardian residence at 4 Wyuna Rd bought for $16m in 2021, alongside Penn's parents David and Linda Penn who have 70 per cent ownership. But it's now sold via Monika Tu and Jad Khattar of Black Diamonz, with Tom Penfold of Cohen Handler known to have introduced the buyer. There'd initially been hopes of $28m. Penn and Palmer had been living in Capri during the three-year rebuild of their own home at 7 Carlotta Rd, Double Bay, bought for $6.7m in 2020, which is apparently 'incredible' and nearly ready to move into. No clue yet as to the location of this other 'quite substantial' property, which is yet to settle. The Wyuna Rd residence was previously owned by nursing-home scion Mark Moran and his interior decorator wife Evette. The historic home on a 723sqm block had harbour views, an internal lift, multiple balconies, manicured grounds and a pool. Penn and Palmer had initially intended to do major renovations, but ended up doing just landscaping the garden and adding lighting. Their good taste in furniture helped give the home extra zing. Josh Penn and mother Linda, the highly regarded philanthropist and CEO of Lowes Menswear that's worth $800m, recently raised a whopping $84.3m at the recent Gold Dinner for the Sydney Children's Hospital foundation.
