‘Devastated beyond words’: Cosmopolitan Australia publisher KK Press folds
Cosmopolitan Australia relaunched with Tones And I as its cover star in 2024.
Independent publishing house KK Press, which relaunched Cosmopolitan Australia, has gone into voluntary liquidation after just five years of operations.
Founded in October 2020 by Katarina Kroslakova, former editor of the AFR’s Life & Leisure and Luxury magazines, the company began the winding-up process on 30 January, coming almost a month after Cosmopolitan Australia quietly ceased publishing.
The closure of KK Press also marks the end of T: Australia, The New York Times Style Magazine title for which Kroslakova had secured the licensing agreement prior to the company’s founding.
In a Linkedin post announcing KK Press’s closure, Kroslakova said she was “devastated beyond words,” but added: “To put it more bluntly, cash flow is brutal. I love my job. Actually, I love my job so much. I love our industry, our team, our contributors—the whole shebang.
“Our industry must thrive, because if we lose magazines, we lose more than just the publications themselves; we lose voices, culture, and the stories that shape who we are. Thank you to everyone who buys, reads, and values print.”
Kroslakova began publishing T: Australia as a quarterly print title in early 2021, alongside a digital edition.
Almost four years later, she scored a coup by negotiating a deal with Hearst Magazines International to revive Cosmopolitan Australia, originally planned as six print editions a year, alongside a digital site.
The women’s glossy had previously been published by Bauer Media, which announced the title’s closure in 2018, prior to the company’s own exit from the market.
Cosmopolitan Australia ultimately published six issues, the last being the Aug/Sept 2025 edition. Its Australian landing page, however, ceased operations on 1 January 2026, with only this message left: “Our time working with KK Press has come to a close, but our commitment to Australia hasn’t changed. Since 1965, Cosmopolitan has been a trusted guide on love, relationships, style, and pop culture, helping readers discover who they are and what they love.”
According to the page, Hearst is still looking to “find a new partner”, adding, “you can continue to enjoy Cosmopolitan’s U.S. content — with the same trusted voice and cultural perspective — and we look forward to sharing what’s next.”
Meanwhile, Kroslakova paid tribute to her team and wider community on Linkedin. “At the centre of this moment is my deep gratitude and admiration for every staff member, contributor, advertiser and supplier who has played a part in the KK Press journey,” she wrote.
Katarina Kroslakova: “My team not only brought nostalgia back, we energised the sector.”
“To my peers and friends across publishing and media: sadly, this news leaves some extraordinary talent looking for their next chapter. If you’re building teams or commissioning work, please reach out. You would be lucky to work with them.”
She added that KK Press is “closing on a high”, noting that Cosmopolitan Australia “became the most widely read women’s lifestyle magazine” and that T: Australia achieved 25% year-on-year readership growth.
“My team not only brought nostalgia back, we energised the sector,” she added. “When we launched, the excitement and support from the media industry and readers was like anything I’ve experienced before. I will treasure it forever. But it’s not easy.”
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Unfortunately, reputation is everything in this industry, and unpaid contributors and staff tend to talk.
As my old publisher would say…. “We publish for profit, not for practice”. becoming “the most widely read women’s lifestyle magazine” means nothing if you cant pay the bills…
Why she thought the target age range for Cosmopolitan, particularly this generation, would pay that much money for a product not much thicker than a catalogue filled with info they can easily find online for free is what’s truly baffling about this. Being nostalgic for the past is not going to pay the bills.