S’pore clothing brand claims it was scammed by organisers of pop-up, space allegedly not booked

S’pore clothing brand says it was scammed along with other brands involved in pop-up

Singapore clothing brand All Round Summer has accused the organisers of a pop-up event it agreed to participate in of scamming them.

In an Instagram post on Sunday (9 Feb), the brand claimed that the consultancy behind the event, Fieldhouse, failed to secure the booked space, and their goods were nearly confiscated.

Clothing brand signed on for pop-up due to launch on 7 Feb

All Round Summer, along with other brands, had signed up for a “permanent” pop-up at a venue called The Pink House along North Bridge Road.

After paying the rental fee, the brand delivered its stock on 25 Jan during the event’s soft launch, ahead of the official opening on 7 Feb, it said.

However, just three days before the opening, the management of the space, Curbside Crafters, informed them that the space had not been booked by the consultancy.

It turns out that Fieldhouse had only secured it for one day but overstayed without making further payment, All Round Summer claimed.

The clothing brand said Curbside then had to confiscate all items left behind as collateral since no payment was made for the extended stay.

Organisers claims tenancy agreement will be signed

When All Round Summer checked with Fieldhouse, it purportedly said that the pop-up would still launch on 7 Feb.

It also allegedly claimed that it was discussing a new tenancy agreement with Curbside, which would be signed soon.

However, Curbside clarified that there was no tenancy agreement being drafted and it hadn’t communicated with the consultancy since the previous week.

Clothing brand says it was scammed after being ghosted

With that, All Round Summer decided to withdraw from the pop-up and asked Fieldhouse to refund the rental payment.

Although it agreed to do this, no refund was forthcoming from 5 to 6 Feb despite promises to process it within those two days.

The company has ghosted them since then, All Round Summer said.

Clothing brand says losses significant after it was scammed

A spokesperson from Curbside Crafters told MS News that the event organiser left items abandoned at the venue, which were later removed by the venue’s management.

These items were kept in custody as the rightful owners were unknown, except for Fieldhouse, which they were unable to contact. The items also had to be held until payment was made.

Curbside Crafters is in the midst of returning items to the affected vendors, who were confirmed to be unaffiliated with the event organiser.

Some of them are even flying in from abroad to collect their items.

The company expressed understanding of “the challenges of being a small business” and noted: “We recognise that we are all victims of Fieldhouse.”

“We hope this incident encourages small business vendors to be more mindful and diligent when vetting the organisers they collaborate with,” the spokesperson added.

All Round Summer confirmed that Curbside agreed to release the brand’s stock on Monday (10 Feb). However, it stated that the brand’s losses are still “significant” given its small size.

The other brands involved in the pop-up are also victims, it added, and while they don’t have high hopes of getting back their money, they want to spread awareness of the alleged scam in hopes that justice will be served.

Jakarta-based business also claimed it was scammed

Louise Jewelry, a Jakarta-based business, has also accused the same consultancy of scamming them.

In a TikTok post last week, the brand shared that it had collaborated with the consultancy on a previous pop-up last year, which was successful despite a few hiccups.

However, it became concerned as the payment was delayed repeatedly over several weeks.

After receiving its delayed payment, Louise Jewelry decided to give the pop-up at The Pink House another chance, despite the previous issues.

However, after the soft launch, the brand’s customers found the venue unexpectedly closed, even though it was supposed to be open.

The consultancy allegedly offered various excuses, and Louise Jewelry began receiving anxious messages from other brands, all of whom were also not receiving their payments.

Just days before the official opening on 7 Feb, Louise Jewelry found out that, like All Round Summer, the space that the brand had paid for hadn’t been booked by the consultancy and therefore, the pop-up event would not proceed.

Curbside Crafters explained that its last communication with the consultancy had been on 28 Jan, with no attempt made to rebook the venue.

As a result, the items left behind were confiscated.

In another TikTok post a day later, Louise Jewelry said it got its items back but the case was “still active” as many small businesses and individuals were still struggling with outstanding payments.

Curbside Crafters has also filed a police report against the consultancy.

Consultancy allegedly still reaching out to brands

According to Louise Jewelry, the duo behind the consultancy is still reaching out to local brand owners, encouraging them to sign contracts and send their stock.

To support this claim, Louise Jewelry said multiple brands had contacted them, revealing that they were on the verge of signing contracts and shipping their products — until they saw the TikTok post.

One brand had even gone as far as promoting the event on social media.

Louise Jewelry expressed surprise that the consultancy was still reaching out to brands.

Same people believed to be behind interior design firm in 2023 case

Besides the consultancy, the same duo are also believed to be behind Studio Kalasan, an interior design contractor that failed to do renovation works despite being paid about S$130,000.

In a case reported by MS News in November 2023, Mr Jeremiah Lim said he made a total of 16 different payments between Dec 2022 and April 2023.

However, almost nothing had been done even after many months, leading him to dismiss them.

But the firm continued to owe them that amount of money, prompting Mr Lim to make a police report.

In a TikTok post last week, he updated that he had collected some payments from them but had not heard from them since August 2024.

Also read: Interior Design Contractor Fails To Complete HDB Renovation, Owes Couple Over S$130K

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Featured image adapted from @allroundsummer on Instagram and Google Maps.