A fashion resale business which appeared on Dragons’ Den and won investment from Steven Bartlett before being forced to close down six months ago has now been acquired.
Luxe Collective was founded by Ben and Joe Gallagher in 2018 from their parents’ bedroom on Merseyside. It sourced pre-owned designer items through sites like eBay and Depop, refurbished them, and sold them via social media channels.
By early 2024, the business had claimed £30 million in total sales revenue. After building a following of millions and attracting over a billion video views on Dragons’ Den, it secured a viral £100,000 investment from Diary of a CEO host Steven Bartlett, who took a 3% stake in the business.
However, after a devastating warehouse burglary in July 2024 in which around £500,000 worth of stock was stolen, the company struggled to recover and it closed down operations.
Now Luxe Collective’s intellectual property, customer database and social media channels have been acquired by US luxury resale platform Fashionphile, which enters the UK market with the deal.
The business has relaunched as Fashionphile UK, with Ben and Joe Gallagher joining the new company as director of brand marketing and director of operations respectively.
It will initially operate via LuxeCollectiveFashion.com before expanding with a flagship authentication centre and store in London.
Announcing Luxe Collective’s closure in May 2025, Ben described the decision as “the hardest of my life”.
“I quit the business I spent seven years building with my brother,” he said.
“During the process, we felt like we’d let people down and didn’t feel worthy of the community or platform we had built. But when we announced we were closing, the support was unbelievable.
“The comments, messages and people stopping me in the street were overwhelming. After a brutal 12 months, we had forgotten what we’d achieved, built and the people we’d helped and inspired.”
Although the break-in was a turning point, Ben has since acknowledged that leadership and operational decisions also played a role.
“It’s easy to say the robbery was the only reason we failed, but that’s not entirely true,” he said at the time.
Six years earlier, while still building Luxe Collective, Ben had discovered Fashionphile – a US company doing what they were attempting but “on a massive scale”.
He continued: “They’d been around 20 years, founded by a woman and her brother-in-law, and doing $500m in revenue.
“We copied everything – photos, inventory, processes, payments – we even mentioned them in our Dragons’ Den pitch.”
Gallagher has previously reached out to founders Sarah Davis and Ben Hemminger whilst on a trip to New York.
“She replied the same day,” he said.
“Hours later we were in her office and she was openly sharing all her secrets with us.
“A few weeks after closing my business, I reached out to see if she wanted to buy any assets.
“Once again she replied immediately, we jumped on a call, and she proposed a plan on the spot.
“Weeks later we flew to NYC to meet the team.
“Me & Joe were hesitant at first, tbh we were done with this industry & wanted to wipe our hands with it.
“But Sarah & Ben’s passion, ambition and excitement they had around us, inspired us to join their team.
“They made us see the vision – there was no way we could say no.
“A full-circle moment… The boys are back in town – and open for business.”
Founded in 1999, Fashionphile is the largest resale platform for ultra-luxury accessories in the United States, working with brands such as Chanel, Hermès, Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
The company operates physical locations in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, Philadelphia and San Diego, and became the exclusive re-commerce partner of Neiman Marcus in 2019.