Napoleon Perdis' eponymous founder last week said that "greedy" landlords who would not reduce rent or let him out of leases despite shoppers shifting online were one of the reasons the company went under.

"Today’s closures are a necessary and anticipated step," Mr Perdis said in a statement on Monday. "And while it feels like a sad time, this is not goodbye, and it gives us the best opportunity to keep the business trading."

Worrells could not say how many jobs would go due to the store closures. The company had more than 600 employees in 2015.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Napoleon Perdis had been staring down the barrel of insolvency for almost a year.

A statement filed by Worrells to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on Monday shows that the firm's Simon Cathro first held meetings with Napoleon Perdis on March 29, 2018.

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At that meeting with Mr Perdis and his brother and co-owners Emanuel, they discussed its "financial position and insolvency options" and also provided "background on the sale of business process", which was being run by FTI Consulting and Atelier Capital.

Mr Cathro met with the company again in April, May and August that year, and by September the situation had deteriorated to the point where they were discussing "preliminary planning on insolvency options".

The Perdis brothers met Mr Cathro once more on November 7 to discuss their administration options, and on Tuesday and Wednesday last week met again to appoint Mr Cathro as administrator.

The document shows the Australian Taxation Office is one of the creditors waiting to be paid, as Warrells now tries to find new owners or investors for the beauty store. The total amount owed is not yet know.

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Other creditors include ANZ Bank, the company's landlord Stockland and the Priceline Pharmacy chain, which is owned by the listed group Australian Pharmaceutical Industries.

Napoleon Perdis entered an exclusive supply deal with Priceline pharmacies in August last year, and Priceline has pledged to continue to stock its products through the administration.

Three local product manufacturers - Ross Cosmetics, Natural Beauty Care, and Livingstone International - are also owed money. So is Maia Financial, a private firm that "enables businesses that have exhausted traditional funding avenues, to unlock new capital for growth", according to its website.

Mr Perdis, a high-profile make-up artist, opened his first store in Sydney's Paddington in 1995, and at the time of its collapse he still owned the business, along with his wife and brother.

Industry watchers have attributed the company's collapse on the expansion of  the world's largest beauty retailer, Sephora, in Australia to 17 stores, and the success of rival Australian chain Mecca, which has more than 90 stores in Australia and New Zealand.

Napoleon Perdis is the latest retail to collapse amid tough conditions for retailers, who are battling poor consumer sentiment and disruption from online shopping.

Other major collapses recently include mensware chain Roger David, Oroton, Esprit, and Toys "R" Us.