Matches is back, just under two years after the online fashion retailer filed for bankruptcy.
Joe Wilkinson and Mario Maher, founders of LVMH-backed, members-only shopping app Mile and formerly mystery box retailer Heat, have acquired Matches as well as its clothing line Raey from Frasers Group in an undisclosed deal. Both will become part of Wilkinson and Maher’s newly established luxury group, Hulcan.
Hulcan will relaunch both Matches and Raey in 2026, with full plans to be announced in the New Year. It was Matches’s heritage that drew the young entrepreneurs to the deal. “We want to keep the heritage of Matches and what everyone knew Matches for: curation, exclusivity, and strong product. We’ll still keep that core. But it will be different from what it was. It will definitely have a new angle,” says Maher, speaking exclusively to Vogue Business.
Hulcan, which now operates Mile, Matches and Raey, has secured $150 million in strategic capital from a global network of fashion and retail leaders, including Frasers Group, Francesco Ragazzi (founder and creative entrepreneur behind Palm Angels and Reservation) and PagsGroup, alongside existing Mile investors such as Antler, LVMH Luxury Ventures, the Hermès family, Stefano Rosso and Carmen Busquets.
“We’re not just building places to shop…We want to shape how people discover, experience, and connect with brands,” says Wilkinson. “Over the past six years, we’ve built everything from the ground up, proving we can innovate, scale responsibly, and create real value for both brands and customers. With the backing of our investors and partners, we’re stepping into this next chapter with real momentum.”
Even with such weighty strategic backing, Hulcan faces the difficult task of reviving Matches in a challenging luxury retail climate. Frasers Group acquired the ailing e-tailer for £52 million in December 2023. Just three months later, it was announced that Matches was to be put into administration, after it “became clear that too much change would be required to restructure it, and the continued funding requirements would be far in excess of amounts that the group considers to be viable”. More than 270 Matches employees were made redundant the next day, and the company was eventually wound down, owing approximately £50 million to brand vendors. During that time, Frasers repurchased the rights to use Matches’s intellectual property for £20 million plus VAT. That IP has now been sold to Hulcan.