Christine Hunsicker

Christine Hunsicker is an American entrepeneur and convicted felon, who was sentenced to five years in U.S. federal prison on August 20, 2026.[1] Hunsicker co-founded Gwynnie Bee, later renamed CaaStle, an online clothing rental subscription service.[2][3] Following a criminal investigation, she was indicted by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York on charges including wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, making false statements to a financial institution, and aggravated identity theft.[4] In March 2026, she pleaded guilty to a single count of securities fraud.[1][5]

Early life and education

Hunsicker grew up in Pennsylvania, United States. She graduated from Northampton Area High School in 1995. She attended Princeton University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Medieval Studies in 1999.[6]

Career

Prior to Gwynnie Bee, Hunsicker was COO of Drop.io and President and COO of Right Media, two tech start-ups purchased by Facebook and Yahoo!, respectively, the latter for $850 million.[7]

In 2011, Hunsicker launched Gwynnie Bee, a subscription model clothing service. She focused first on sizes 10–32 after discovering that 80% of American women fall into this size range and are underserved by traditional retailers.[8][9] Originally run out of her New York City apartment, Gwynnie Bee once operated from five offices in the US and India and employed around 350 people.[10] The company offered more than 150 rental brands and had claimed over 3 million rental boxes shipped as of August 2016.[11] Hunsicker appeared on Lifetime's Project Runway: Fashion Startup,[12] a spinoff of the successful reality TV series Project Runway.[13] Gwynnie Bee later updated its service to be size inclusive[14] and the company changed its stated scope: a platform for retailers and brands to create rental services. Hunsicker renamed the company CaaStle,[15] with the 'CaaS' prefix standing for Clothing-as-a-Service.

Hunsicker made television appearances, including on The Today Show and Fox Business, prior to her 2026 fraud conviction.[16][17][18]

Criminal Investigation

In 2025, Hunsicker was criminally charged with defrauding investors of $300 million following an internal review conducted by CaaStle that found she had provided investors with misstated financial statements, falsified audit opinions, and inaccurate capitalization data that understated the number of company shares outstanding.[19][20] The United States Securities and Exchange Commission noted similar complaints that allege Hunsicker exaggerated profits by 7,300%.[21] This was alongside other allegations of fraud. Hunsicker allegedly showed investors financial statements for CaaStle audited by the firm BDO in 2022; BDO stated that they did no business with CaaStle that year.

Investors also allegedly purchased shares of original company stock that were misrepresented as outstanding shares, diluting the value of these shares and generating new capital for the company to maintain solvency despite having never been profitable.

These actions led to a severe liquidity crisis at CaaStle, prompting the company to furlough all employees. Hunsicker resigned as CEO and director in March 2025, and a shareholder letter announced that the company was under investigation by law enforcement.[22]

The CaaStle board continued to support her tenure even after being informed of the fraud she had committed against the company.[23]

Awards and honors

Prior to her fraud conviction, Hunsicker was hailed for "disrupting" and "changing the fashion game",[24][25][26] "redesigning the plus-size clothing industry",[27] and "personalizing the plus-size fashion experience"[28], and was included in several lists:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Caastle Founder Pleads Guilty To $300 Million Fraud Scheme". www.justice.gov. Retrieved 2026-03-05.
  2. ↑ Moore, Kristina. "Designer Spotlight: Gwynnie Bee Is The Netflix Of Plus-Size Fashion". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  3. ↑ "Why I Share My Closet With Hundreds of Women". HuffPost. 2014-03-21. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  4. ↑ "Southern District of New York | CaaStle Founder Charged In $300 Million Fraud Scheme | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 2025-07-18. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  5. ↑ van Voris, Bob (4 March 2026). "Fashion Startup Founder Pleads Guilty in $300 Million Fraud Case". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 7 June 2026. 'Beginning in February 2019, I knowingly provided false statements about CaaStle's finances to current and future investors,' Hunsicker told US District Judge J. Paul Oetken.
  6. ↑ Hunsicker, Christine, "LinkedIn", Retrieved 9/13/16 https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinehunsicker
  7. ↑ "Rental service giving plus-sized clothing industry a makeover". www.cbsnews.com. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  8. ↑ CNBC.com, Susan Caminiti, special to (23 March 2016). "How one woman is going after a $17B opportunity". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-03-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ Strugatz, Rachel "Gwynnie Bee Wants to do Plus-Size Online the Right Way", "Women's Wear Daily", October 8, 2015 https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0110/6032/files/7217-wwd.html?12334580003283101297
  10. ↑ King, Leo. "How This Digital Entrepreneur Rocketed A Fashion Business From 4 To 350 Employees". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  11. ↑ Henry, Zöe, "Gwynnie Bee: This Fashion Startup Raised $100 Million Serving the Plus-Size Woman", "INC.", July/August 2016.
  12. ↑ WWD, Marcy Medina | (2016-09-09). "'Project Runway: Fashion Startup' to debut on Lifetime". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  13. ↑ Novellino, Teresa, "Gwynnie Bee Founder is Living the 'Project Runway: Fashion Startup' Dream", "Upstart Business Journal", October 31, 2016 http://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2016/10/31/gwynnie-bee-founder-project-runway-fashion-startup.html
  14. ↑ "Gwynnie Bee Does Size Exclusivity Differently". Yahoo! Finance. January 24, 2018.
  15. ↑ "CaaStle | LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  16. ↑ "Christine Hunsicker Speaks on The Future of Retail: Online vs. In-store and Weighs in on Amazon Falling Short with Female Shoppers", "Fox Business: Making Money with Charles Payne", August 29, 2016 http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/5103893028001/?#sp=show-clips
  17. ↑ "Christine Hunsicker Speaks on the Benefits of Having an Unlimited Wardrobe", "Fox Business: Varney & Co.", September 29, 2015 http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4518150249001/?#sp=show-clips
  18. ↑ "'Project Runway: Fashion Startup' investors: Here's how to pitch us". TODAY.com. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  19. ↑ "Southern District of New York | CaaStle Founder Charged In $300 Million Fraud Scheme | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 2025-07-18. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
  20. ↑ Shah, Jill; Bhasin, Kim (September 25, 2025). "The Tech Fashion Darling Accused of Swindling Investors Out of $300 Million". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  21. ↑ "SEC.gov | Christine Hunsicker". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  22. ↑ "This Startup Wanted to Revolutionize Fashion. Now It's Under Investigation for Fraud". www.wsj.com. 2025-04-03. Retrieved 2025-04-03.
  23. ↑ Raghavan, Anita (2026-06-07). "Christine Hunsicker, CaaStle CEO, Confessed to Fraud. The Board Let Her Stay in Charge". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-08.
  24. ↑ Lepore, Meredith, "Meet Gwynnie Bee Founder Christine Hunsicker, the Woman Completely Disrupting the Fashion Game", "Levo League", September 9, 2016 https://www.levo.com/posts/meet-gwynnie-bee-founder-christine-hunsicker-the-woman-completely-disrupting-the-fashion-game Archived 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ↑ "Gwynnie Bee giving plus-sized clothing industry a makeover - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2016-01-20. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  26. ↑ Chan, Lauren (2015-12-01). "How Gwynnie Bee Is Changing The Plus-Size Fashion Game". Glamour. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  27. ↑ "Meet the New York Entrepreneur Redesigning the Plus-Size Clothing Industry [VIDEO]". Inc.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-13. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  28. ↑ "Creative Conversations: How Gwynnie Bee is Personalizing the Plus-Size Fashion Experience" "Fast Company", October 20, 2016 https://www.fastcompany.com/3064748/creative-conversations/how-gwynnie-bee-is-personalizing-the-plus-size-fashion-experience
  29. ↑ "40 Under 40: 2016". Crain's New York Business. 2018-07-04. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  30. ↑ "The Most Impressive Women Entrepreneurs of 2016". Inc.com. Archived from the original on 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  31. ↑ Bourque, Andre (2016-09-28). "25 Inspiring Entrepreneurs Under 40 Who Are Creating the Next Big Thing". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
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