Luxury clients are being left in the lurch.
Madame Paulette, an upscale dry cleaning and wedding gown preservation establishment in Midtown, is facing numerous allegations regarding the disappearance of expensive luxury items, such as priceless wedding dresses, as reported by The Post.
Claudia Li Johnson, an influencer, recently highlighted her concerns after the establishment seemingly lost her custom Vera Wang wedding gown during preservation in 2021, and claimed they still could not locate it four years later.
“I’ll never be able to pass down my wedding dress to my daughter,” the stylist expressed emotionally in a TikTok video shared on September 19. “It’s irreplaceable and carries profound sentimental value.”
Johnson’s unfortunate situation reflects a trend of troubling reports about lost or damaged high-end apparel, contributing to the dry cleaner receiving an average of 2.6 stars on Yelp and an ‘F’ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Fendi has also raised concerns over lost items, as the Italian fashion house sued the company last year for failing to return a $110,000 dark-blue chinchilla coat and a $22,900 mink bomber jacket.
A Connecticut woman was awarded $31,000 in April after alleging that her custom Italian drapes were destroyed and that the company went back on its pledge to replace them.
Kam Saifi, the CEO of ByNext, the parent company of Madame Paulette, which purchased the dry cleaner in 2021 after its bankruptcy, remarked to The Post that this issue was “beyond our control” because the drapes were already damaged by sunlight and continued to degrade under chemical treatment.
Saifi noted that the Fendi lawsuit pertains to “contractual obligations of the prior ownership” and insisted that similar complaints arising before the acquisition have no connection to current operations.
However, a Post analysis revealed over a dozen recent individual complaints regarding lost or damaged luxury items since then.
“In 2021, I entrusted Madame Paulette with $30,000 worth of clothing — and I have NEVER seen it since,” lamented one Yelp reviewer. Another case involved a woman from the Upper East Side, who claimed the service inexplicably “ruined” her vibrant pink Valentino dress, returning it stark white.
Additional Yelp reviews have mentioned wedding dresses being delivered to incorrect brides, odd blood stains appearing on gowns, and even a staff member offering to let a customer “take home” an unclaimed belt.
Complaints submitted to the Better Business Bureau since 2022 describe missing vintage Christian Dior dresses, a wedding gown and veil returned to the wrong customer, and a “vintage historical fashion garment” that was ruined after exposure to “inappropriate chemicals.”
“They hardly made an effort to locate my dress,” one complaint stated, “and it seems very odd that so many people are experiencing similar issues.”
The Post could not independently verify the reviews on Yelp or the Better Business Bureau, which Saifi characterized as representing “a small fraction” of the services rendered by the upscale cleaners.
“In any service industry, issues arise, and when evaluated against the total workload… this accounts for less than a fraction of 1%,” Saifi explained.
Although he acknowledged that some items have been misdelivered, he mentioned that there have been cases where “missing” items were later found in clients’ closets or stored away by their staff.
“Sometimes, certain situations go beyond our control,” he added.
Shortly after The Post’s inquiry regarding the long-lost dress from Johnson, a representative shared images of the gown, stating it was found in their climate-controlled storage and was being prepared for delivery to her.
“During the integration of the company into our operations, unfortunately, the name tag fell off,” Saifi noted.
He mentioned that when social media discussions intensified, employees were ordered to conduct a thorough search of the 70,000-square-foot warehouse, uncovering a few items without names, including Johnson’s gown.
Li Johnson did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
“This is a widespread issue – even basic dry cleaners face similar challenges,” Saifi countered, also denying allegations of renting, reselling, or misusing any customer property as some critics have suggested online.
“Throughout our history, we have maintained the highest standards of care, integrity, and customer service.”
