KSG SCAM
MINORITY OWNED START-UP CLOTHING BRANDS ARE VICTIMS OF FRAUD BY NEW YORK CLOTHING MANUFACTURER KINDER SEWING GROUP
SNAPSHOT
· In January of this year, Black Unicorn Merchandising (an apparel design and sourcing agency) referred several clients to work with Kinder Sewing Group (a domestic clothing manufacturer), through a recommendation from a colleague.
· Six months after orders placed with KSG, they have not received any goods for the production that was already paid for in full.
· Affectively rendering 3 minority owned businesses incapable of operating and bringing the collective financial burden to around $25,000.
In January of this year, through a colleague, I received a recommendation to work with Kinder Sewing Group (KSG). KSG is a domestic apparel manufacturer of clothing for men, women and children. At first, I found their website very attractive and their customer service was professional. Because of this, I decided to study their work in detail and I started communicating with their sales rep Amy Callahan (overseeing start-up brand onboarding) in order to build a possible business relationship.
My company is called Black Unicorn Merchandising (BUM). I help start-up apparel brands in the United States produce clothing lines; my main area of focus is *overseas manufacturing*. Our goal is to handle the development and sourcing to allow start-up brands to focus on selling their clothing lines and to remove the guess work from factory sourcing.
In view of this, and after several conversations with Amy Callahan of KSG, I requested some samples of the garments as part of my vetting process. After doing so, I decided to refer several BUM clients to KSG; largely due to the fact that the national shipping crisis drove these clients to look stateside for their manufacturing at the time. It was for this reason that in January 2022 I referred them to KSG. At the time of the referral, some points were made clear:
· KSG and BUM work independently of each other, i.e., the dealings they entered into between the clients and KSG would not involve BUM in any way.
· Up to that point, BUM had not had a garment production deal with KSG. BUM had only experienced the sample process offered by KSG, but had not placed any orders with KSG.
· Once a direct communication channel was created between KSG and the clients, it was understood that BUM would not be involved in the order management or communication between the clients and KSG.
However, now, six months after the clients I referred placed their first order with KSG, they have not received any goods for the production that was already paid for in full. The situation has certainly become worrisome; affectively rendering 3 minority owned businesses incapable of operating and bringing the collective financial burden to around $25,000.
· One of the customers has received images of samples from KSG, but they are incorrect and did not meet the requirements that were originally agreed upon.
· Another customer, has yet to receive even a fabric swatch to evaluate KSG's work, i.e. he has not received anything related to his order at all as agreed.
· Recently yet another customer has come forward expressing her extreme disappointment noting disorganization and failure to fill her order.
That is why I feel obliged to intervene on behalf of my clients, since I was the one who referred them, trusting in the good faith and professionalism that KSG showed at the beginning. I have tried to communicate with KSG on several occasions (I have piles of e-mails that attest to what I am saying), but I always receive are false promises suggesting the prompt delivery of orders that have not arrived so far. We have waited patiently and remained professional up until this point, but the failure on the part of KSG to honor these agreements makes us feel as though we have been victims of fraud. Therefore, I have decided to shine a light on this publicly, with the objective that bringing this to light might help my clients recover their money in full.
I’m reaching out to local media for assistance so please help me by circulating this to your friends and colleagues in the industry who are committed to ensuring small minority owned businesses are not taken advantage of in this country.
CONTACT EMAIL: blackunicornmerch@gmail.com
TWITTER: @Krystal06951951
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/blackunicornmerchandising/