Deciem founder announces company shutdown until further notice

By

Erin Floyd

Published
Oct 9, 2018

The head of the Toronto-based cosmetics company, which has seen runaway success with its skincare line The Ordinary, and made waves with its founder's highly erratic social media posts, has announced that the company will shut down until further notice, ceasing operations and closing stores immediately.

Founder Truaxe, who ditched the title of CEO earlier this year in favour of 'worker', announced via a a video post on Monday: "This is the final post of Deciem. We will shut down all operations of Deciem until further notice... Please take me seriously."

Truaxe also accused "almost everyone at Deciem" of having committed financial crimes, without going into detail. The minute-long selfie video, at times unintelligible and filmed by Truaxe in the backseat of a moving car, was accompanied by a caption with similarly unsubtantiated suggestions aimed at a raft of celebrities, luxury fashion houses, major retailers and "most of Hollywood": "Every one of you who has been laughing aT me will with certainty face criminal prosecution," he wrote.

Despite the company's rapid international expansion; projections to reach $300 million in sales in 2018; and receiving investment from Estée Lauder in 2017 (the French company acquired a 28% stake), the business' shuttering is to be the latest in a series of unanticipated corporate missteps, following the abrupt firing of co-CEO Nicola Kilner in April, who then returned in July; and Truaxe's decision to helm the company's social media in January 2018. The company has since seen backlash for its unpredictable and controversial posts, some of which have been unrelated to the brand's offering and targeted at individuals.

Deciem could not immediately be reached for comment, but the website now lists 23 stores around the world as 'closed', including in New York, London, Sydney, Amsterdam, Toronto and Seoul.

Estée Lauder did not immediately respond to requests for comment.