No pay off for Australian kids’ brand worn by Khloe Kardashian’s daughter, True

A Sydney designer has said it’s a “massive shame” after Khloe Kardashian shared photos of her daugter sporting an Australian activewear brand.

Sunny Active owner Ally Mahoney expressed disappointment Khloe Kardashian didn’t credit her creation in an Instagram post. Picture: Justin Lloyd

A singular Instagram post from a Kardashian could, and has, meant millions to small businesses.

But as one Aussie woman learned the hard way, it could also make no difference at all.

Ally Mahoney is a mother of two from Burraneer, Sydney who launched kids’ activewear brand Sunny in 2020.

Her goal was simple: to dress her daughters, aged 8 and 11, for gymnastics in something comfortable, lightweight, and not necessarily sparkly purple. The clothes are made from recycled water bottles, manufactured into a soft yarn in China.

In June, Mahoney discovered that Khloe Kardashian had posted a series of photos of her four-year-old daughter, True, to Instagram wearing her brand’s Sunrise crop top and leggings set.

“Talk about cuteness!!! It has been a tradition for the girls to take the brave and marvellous firefighters ice cream a few times a year. They love to meet the firefighters and tour the fire station,” Kardashian captioned the post, which showed True and her cousin Dream visiting the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Sunny Activewear founder Ally Mahoney and her two daughters Lottie, 11, and Molly, 8. Picture: Justin Lloyd

The third photo in the post of eight shows True, wearing the Sunny set, shopping for ice cream with her 5-year-old cousin Dream, who is Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna’s daughter.

There’s also a video of the cousins performing a dance.

“The girls wanted to show the firefighters their dance routine that they performed at their recital last weekend,” Kardashian’s caption, to her 267 million followers, continued.

Asked whether she’d seen a boost to her business, Mahoney told The Daily Telegraph:

“That would probably make a really interesting story, but no. I actually got no new followers, and no sales from it. She didn’t tag me.

“I only realised, when one of my customers commented on her post, saying ‘is this yours’?

It’s a massive shame.”

According to the Instagram marketers Hopper HQ, a single post on Khloe’s Instagram will set you back a cool $1.86M (AUD). Meanwhile, Kylie and Kim’s cost $2.58M and $2.4M respectively.

“My husband, for years, has been saying send something ‘to that Kardashian’,” said Mahoney. “And I was like no, no. They’d never wear it. Then I thought, what the hell?”

She tracked down a business address for a communications company owned by the Kardashian empire’s matriarch, Kris Jenner.

“I sent Kris a big parcel, with a set for each of her granddaughters, some caramello Koalas, and a little note. I crossed my fingers. When Khloe posted, I was pretty excited,” Mahoney said.

Khloe Kardashian in Los Angeles. Picture: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

Mahoney’s goal was to dress her daughters for gymnastics in something comfortable, lightweight, and not necessarily sparkly purple. Picture: Justin Lloyd

That excitement quickly turned to upset, however, when she realised that without a tag, or mention of her business name, the endorsement was lost.

Comparatively, Sydney fashion designer Olivia Haidenbauer saw her sales jump 700 per cent last year, when Kim shared two images of herself wearing a $138 Haidenbauer bikini creation. Haidenbauer had only launched her swim and festival wear brand 6 months prior, but got her wares into Kardashian’s hands through a friend of a friend whom she employed.

Kiwi entrepreneur Iyia Liu saw similar success, by paying Kardashian’s sister Kylie $300,000 in 2016, to feature her waist trainer in a singular post.

The following year, Liu raked in $3.3 million on the trending product.

Mahoney’s brand, though, is beloved by Aussie parents. “My initial aim was to gear it towards kids doing gymnastics and dance, but my girls started wearing it everywhere,” she said.

“I mean, it’s great, but this isn’t one of those scenarios where you see a Kardashian post something and your business goes nuts.

“I think Kris Jenner keeps them on a pretty tight leash and doesn’t want them doing anything promotional without them getting paid for it.

“But they’re billionaires. They all have their own businesses. You think they’d be a bit more supportive of women-owned brands.”