Storage wars: Fashion boss’s $1m list of luxury goods ‘damaged’ in leak

A court battle has revealed the contents of a Sydney fashion boss Karin Upton Baker’s storage shed, which allegedly contained more than $1 million worth of rare clothing, furniture and a taxidermy sea turtle. Check out the detailed list.

A court battle has revealed the contents of a Sydney fashion boss Karin Upton Baker’s storage shed.

A list detailing more than $1 million worth of prized valuables Sydney fashion icon Karin Upton-Baker kept in her storage facility have been revealed in a court battle after they were damaged by a rainstorm.

It can also be revealed Ms Upton-Baker’s ex husband, Gary Baker, has been accused of failing to insure the 141 luxury items, which included irreplaceable clothing, art, furniture, an antler chandelier and a taxidermy sea turtle.

The high-end goods were damaged when rainwater infiltrated the roof and a concrete slab at the Kennards Storage facility in South Sydney in 2016.

The fashion boss is now suing Kennards Storage, a building company and a waterproofing company in the NSW Supreme Court for $1,084,840, to replace or repair the goods, claiming the storage giant failed to protect them.

Karin Upton Baker is the boss of luxury brand Hermes in Australia. .

Ms Upton Baker, the long-time managing director of luxury fashion house Hermes Australia and ex editor of fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar, is one of the best known personalities on the Sydney fashion and social scene.

Before their 37 year marriage ended in 2020, the fashion boss and husband were at the pinnacle of the Sydney social scene and hosted famous parties at their $6 million Elizabeth Bay penthouse.

In documents tendered in the NSW Supreme Court show Ms Upton-Baker said she is “a collector of art works, objets d’art, antique furniture and designer clothing”.

The fashion figure submitted to the court a list of 141 luxury items allegedly damaged at Kennards’ Waterloo facility when water leaked through the roof and a concrete slab during the storm in February 2016

The Kennards facility at Waterloo. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

They included high end fashion pieces, like a “Christian Dior silk skirt and bustier” from 1990 that was designed by famed Italian fashion designer Gianfranco Ferre, worth $25,000.

Another was a $20,000 “Giorgio Armani printed and dyed shearling coat with asymmetric closing”, the documents said.

The list is divided into two sections.

The first detailed 92 rare and exquisite items of clothing kept in the storage unit, which the fashion boss valued at $434,540.

The second listed 50 pieces of “furniture, objects and art” she said were worth $500,000.

This included a “taxidermy of a small sea turtle” worth $1000 and a “sculpture of a standing figure, draped in marble” from “circa 500AD” Rome valued at $25,000.

Ms Upton-Baker also stored a “large antler chandelier” worth $12,000.

Ms Upton-Baker began storing her precious goods at Kennards’ Waterloo facility in August 2014.

Ms Upton-Baker began storing her precious goods at Kennards’ Waterloo facility in August 2014.

The goods were “damaged by saturation and exposure to moisture” after water leaked in through the roof of the facility and a concrete slab during the February 2016 storm, Ms Upton-Baker’s document said.

Ms Upton-Baker claimed the storage facility had been left vulnerable to water ingress after works were performed on the roof in January 2016.

She also claimed a concrete slab at the facility had not been properly waterproofed and that the water leaked through it.

The Hermes boss claims Kennards, the building company and the waterproofing company are now “liable” for failing to protect her treasured items.

Kennards has lodged a defence with the court and denies it failed to protect Ms Upton-Baker’s goods.

Karin Upton Baker in a rare social media post. .

Gary Baker

The company also claims Ms Upton-Baker was in breach of its “storage agreement” that bans customers from storing goods that are “irreplaceable”.

Kennards also claimed that Mr Baker “specifically elected not to take out insurance in respect of those goods”.

It also claimed Ms Upton-Baker contributed to the damage by “failing to remove her goods from the facility immediately after” the rain damage occurred.

The building company that performed the roof works, GWH Build, is also defending Ms Upton-Baker’s claim against it.

The company said in its defence statement that Kennards failed to direct it “to not leave the concrete slab exposed to the elements for a period of time” and that the waterproofing company failed to “adequately apply” a membrane to the concrete slab.

The matter returns to court on January 29.

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