Liverpool-based luxury resale platform Luxe Collective is targeting major growth after securing backing from Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett.
The hit BBC show is now in its 21st series and viewers of the latest episode saw co-founders Ben and Joe Gallagher and COO Oliver Millar walk out the Den with a £100,000 investment from Bartlett in exchange for a 3 per cent stake in the business.
Bartlett had wanted 5 per cent of the equity but 23-year-old Joe Gallagher, who told viewers he used to push trollies at Tesco, held firm at 3 per cent.
Luxe Collective, which was founded in 2018 in a back bedroom at the home of Ben and Joe Gallagher’s parents, has generated sales revenue of more than £8.5m.
The brothers, who described themselves as ‘unemployable’, came up with the idea for their business after identifying a gap in the market for women’s pre-loved designer wear.
They sell luxury goods for less than comparable brands by buying items off eBay and Depop, cleaning them up and selling them on Instagram. All items are advertised as ‘100 per cent authentic’.
Key to Luxe Collective’s success has been creating a huge social media following.
The company has 1.6m followers on TikTok and 534,000 followers on Instagram.
During their appearance on Dragons’ Den, they said that in one month they’d had 100 million views across their social media platforms.
Unsurprisingly their appearance on Dragons’ Den has featured extensively across their various social media platforms.
As well as Bartlett, Luxe Collective secured rival offers from fashion industry entrepreneur Touker Souleyman and Deborah Meaden but opted for Bartlett after citing his Diary of a CEO podcast as being an inspiration for their business.
Luxe Collective’s mission is to make shopping more sustainable by building the biggest pre-loved brand in the UK.
The show was recorded in May 2023 but the company has only been able to talk about their appearance after the episode was aired last week.
Luxe Collective currently employs 24 staff and have since posted a behind-the-scenes video on YouTube about their experience on the BBC show and meeting Bartlett in September 2023.
Ben Gallagher quipped: “It’s like Piers Morgan’s Life Stories on steroids – it’s wild. I think Steven Bartlett is a f**king legend. He’s so passionate and obsessed and loved to learn and be curious. He has so much experience and sounds really excited to be working with us.”
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- The latest episode of Dragons’ Den can be viewed on BBC iPlayer.