Fashion stylist to stars sued for €100k over loan Bank demands repayment
A FASHION guru who has dressed former president Mary McAleese and a number of celebrities is being sued by AIB for €100,000.
Kate Gleeson had borrowed money in 2006 to renovate her high-end Dublin fashion boutique that has since closed down. Yesterday, AIB Bank took Ms Gleeson to the High Court seeking repayment of the loan.
Ms Gleeson, 55, one of Dublin’s leading fashion retailers for more than 25 years, says she is ‘most surprised’ to now be sued personally by the bank, her barrister Louis McEntagart SC told the court yesterday.
The High Court will decide next week if AIB is entitled to a snap judgment against the clothing company boss – or if Ms Gleeson is entitled to a further High Court hearing to air her grievances with the bank in greater detail.
The bank says the businesswoman, who was not in court yesterday, signed a personal guarantee in 2010 that makes her liable for the debt.
It says Ms Gleeson has ‘failed, refused and/or neglected’ to make repayments as agreed under the terms of the loan.
However, businesswoman Ms Gleeson argues that she shouldn’t have to pay up because she was assured by the bank that she would never be held personally liable for the borrowings.
She contends that even though she signed a personal guarantee, it is invalid because she had agreed with the bank that the loan would always be the responsibility of her clothing firm.
Her senior counsel Mr McEntagart said the money sought by AIB is ‘due and owing from Diffusion [Boutique] Ltd and not from the defendant [Ms Gleeson] to these proceedings.’
The barrister contended that Ms Gleeson’s personal guarantee is ‘invalid and unenforceable’ because the bank did not properly advise her of her obligations on foot of it.
She also claims that she ‘executed the guarantee without the benefit of independent legal advice,’ the court heard.
Mr McEntagart explained: ‘She had an agreement [with the bank] – she says the liabilities would be attributed to the company.’
But barrister John Donnelly, for AIB, told the court that Ms Gleeson’s liability to the bank is ‘pretty plain on the face of it’.
Mr Donnelly added: ‘It’s crystal clear what’s being alleged.
‘It’s crystal clear what the guarantee is and that a demand was made [by AIB].’
After hearing the arguments from both sides, Judge Paul McDermott said he will decide next week whether to grant AIB an instant cash judgment against Ms Gleeson.
Ms Gleeson, a sister of Mary McAleese’s PR adviser Eileen Gleeson, reportedly first advised Mrs McAleese fashion-wise during her successful 1997 presidential election campaign.
She was one of a number of industry experts who reputedly helped Mrs McAleese ‘soften’ her look for the duration of the campaign and beyond.
During her career, Ms Gleeson helped stage a number of prominent charity fashion shows.
Ms Gleeson’s main retail outlet, Diffusion on Dublin’s Clontarf Road, reportedly closed in 2012, after 21 years of trading.
She now sells top-end women’s clothing through her website diffusion.ie.
The website notes that Ms Gleeson has dressed ‘celebrities and public figures as a personal stylist’. It claims that the site aims to ‘simplify things for the busy woman by offering the current season’s “must-have” pieces’.
Ms Gleeson lives with her husband in the village of Howth in north Co. Dublin.
‘Most surprised’ to be sued ‘Crystal clear what’s alleged’