The end of an era: Matches website winds down

Sign up to receive the Vogue Business newsletter for the latest luxury news and insights, plus exclusive membership discounts. The Matches website is being wound down four months after the luxury fashion retailer collapsed into administration — extinguishing the last flicker of hope among brands of recouping the money they are owed. New transactions in markets where returns are possible — including the UK — were suspended on 30 June, although access to the returns portal will remain open until midnight on 21 July. Shoppers in markets where returns aren’t possible, including the US, Japan, Macau, Canada, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, will still be able to make purchases until that date. Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group — the owner of several chains including Sports Direct and luxury fashion retailer Flannels — bought Matches in December 2023 for £52 million, and called in administrators from Teneo Financial Advisory less than three months later. In April, Frasers acquired Matches’s IP assets, including its company name, trademark and database, which it temporarily licensed to Teneo free of charge so the website could continue to trade and clear the stock. Frasers would not share its plans for the IP now the site is winding down. Matches owes at least £35.6 million — and potentially as much as £100 million — to 541 unsecured creditors, including many designers and clothing suppliers, who were expected to recoup less than a penny in the pound, according to a report issued by Teneo in April. The report showed that 190 brands had tried to retrieve a combined £22.8 million worth of stock through retention of title (ROT) claims (ROT clauses allow suppliers to retain ownership of their goods until the payment has been made in full). However, Teneo only deemed claims amounting to £3.4 million to be viable. The British Fashion Council (BFC) estimates that around 15 to 20 per cent of brands stocked at Matches were able to prove ROT. Insolvency firm FTS Recovery is working with the BFC to support designers affected by the collapse. Of the eight brands it is formally advising, some have managed to get their ROT agreed and have recouped up to 75 per cent of what was paid for any stock sold during the insolvency period, with the balance to be paid shortly. They will be entitled to reclaim any unsold stock. However, most brands have had to sit back and watch their designs be cleared at heavy discounts through the Matches website and elsewhere, knowing they are unlikely to benefit from any sales. ROT clauses are often “poorly drafted”, points out Stephen Sidkin, commercial law partner at law firm Fox Williams. “This means that they can be difficult — if not impossible — to enforce,” he flags. “Even when a retention of title case is properly drafted, it may not be properly incorporated into the contract made with the stockist.” “I haven’t received any stock back — though it was made pretty clear that I wouldn’t,” says London-based designer Ashish Gupta, founder of the Ashish brand. “I’m still dealing with the financial impact of it. I’m one of the few people that don’t have my own online store, so I was dependent on people like Matches to provide that online platform.” A supplier that worked with several brands sold via Matches told Vogue Business he anticipates “no chance” of getting back either monies owed or unsold stock from the platform following the closure. “Suppliers like myself, who worked extremely hard to produce beautiful garments, won’t get paid. On top of that, the work we had lined up with brands [sold via Matches] is now non-existent.” An indirect loss of revenue has been the biggest blow for luxury reseller Sellier Knightsbridge, which partnered with the retailer on two curated drops of pre-loved items last year. “Each drop with Matches brought in £500,000 within a few days, contributing significantly to our revenue,” says founder and CEO Hanushka Toni. Teneo declined to share how much stock is left unsold, nor any further clearance plans. Experts say one route would be to offload the inventory to a company that specialises in fashion stock clearance, which would mean selling it at a significantly reduced price. The value of the stock will be affected by its seasonality, too. Clearance channels create additional challenges for luxury labels, which trade off the back of their exclusive brand equity. Some may opt to send a cease-and-desist letter to discount retailers offloading unsold stock, says Sidkin, claiming it’s an infringement of their trademark or the reputation of their trademark. Amid the anger and frustration at unrecovered debts, many luxury brands are also lamenting the final moments of a fashion powerhouse. “Its absence has left a void in the online ecosystem that remains unfilled,” says Sellier’s Toni. A notice on the Matches website says: “Continue your shopping journey with Flannels.” Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com. More on this topic: What really happened with Matches and where do we go from here? Frasers buys back Matches IP: Why it matters Brands ‘unlikely’ to recoup £36 million owed by Matches

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