Sydney fashion founders Shadi Kord and Natalie Khoei award themselves $22m dividend from label Meshki
Watchout White Fox. Fashion moguls Shadi Kord and Natalie Khoei have paid themselves a bumper $22m dividend from their clothing label Meshki.
Fashion moguls in the making Shadi Kord and Nazanin (Natalie) Khoei awarded themselves a bumper $22m dividend after 12 years of promoting their clothing label Meshki.
Their payout was a massive fourfold increase from the previous year and came after their company saw 2025 net profit rise by an impressive yet significantly smaller increase of 44 per cent to $28m, according to accounts lodged with the securities regulator. The pair could not be reached for comment.
The two young entrepreneurs of Iranian heritage named their fashion label after the Farsi word for black. While they still stock black dresses on their e-commerce site, most of their items involve a kaleidoscope of colour in cut-out mini dresses, diamanté trimmed maxi-dresses, wedding looks and even bikinis.
These sorts of riches have allowed the pair to spend big on luxury Sydney real estate. In May, Ms Khoei paid $48.5m for a lavish six-bedroom home with harbour views in the exclusive enclave of Bellevue Hill. Ms Kord paid $23m for her neighbouring property a year earlier.
While these are big figures, they are dwarfed by the $150m that fellow young fashion founders Daniel and Georgia Contos – who created the $2bn White Fox empire – have spent on their own dream home.
The Contoses are snapping up several neighbouring blocks in nearby Vaucluse and knocking down the existing homes to create a single residence, Casa Del Sol. There, the White Fox founders will be able to enjoy views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge from their tennis court.
Much like the White Fox duo who started their global fashion empire by selling second hand clothes and Celine dupes on Ebay in 2013, Meshki was started as an Instagram account while the Sydney pair were studying architecture.
They picked up a large social media following with the help of influencers and evolved to creating their own clothing line. Unlike White Fox, the Meshki founders have filed their accounts with ASIC under their obligations as a large proprietary company.
Meshki leans heavily into their Iranian heritage. Ms Kord moved to Sydney from Iran with her family when she was 15 years old and Ms Khoei’s parents immigrated just a few years before she was born.
At an Iran-themed dinner in Los Angeles three years ago, Ms Kord made reference to the mandatory dress code for women introduced in Iran after the 1979 revolution.
“We dream of a day when all women have the freedom to choose what to wear, to choose who they love, what they believe and what they choose to do with their bodies,” Kord told Women’s Wear Daily.
Meshki employs 148 people and its wages made up $14.5m of its $16.4m employee expenses, up from $10.4m of $11.7m respectively.
The pair have described the US as a major focus and the Meshki financial accounts show 90 per cent of the company’s revenue comes from offshore. Overseas markets represented $152m and $30.6m came from Australia. Annual revenue was $182.6m up from $120.7m.
Of note, inventories doubled during the year to $20m and refund liabilities also almost doubled to $4.5m.
For the first time, the company also purchased legal indemnity insurance of $19,270 for its two directors, Ms Kord and Ms Khoei.
Auditor EY said the company declared a dividend of $17.79m in July after the tax year ended, connected to a related-party loan receivable. It was unclear if that dividend was captured in the $22m paid out during the financial year.
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