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The luxury second-hand market<\/b> continues to consolidate, this time crossing American and European borders.<\/p>\n
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American company Fashionphile<\/b>, which specializes in the resale of luxury goods, has come to the rescue of the British platform Luxe Collective<\/b>, based in Liverpool, which was operating on a smaller scale than its new owner.<\/p>\n
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Founded in 2018 by brothers Ben and Joe Gallagher, Luxe Collective<\/b> quickly took off, building a committed community with more than three million subscribers, over a billion views, and intense dialogue on social media (particularly TikTok).<\/p>\n
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But despite the support of its community, the platform had to close down in May 2025,<\/b> completely destabilized by the burglary of its warehouse, which resulted in a loss of \u00a3500,000 (almost half of its stock).<\/p>\n
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The good news is that six months later, the company announced on Instagram to its loyal followers that it had been resurrected thanks to its acquisition by Fashionphile, which it describes as \u201cthe world’s largest secondhand resale company.\u201d<\/p>\n
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“We’re back. Bigger and better than before. We are very excited to start a new chapter in our adventure with you,” said the new entity, renamed Fashionphile UK<\/b>.<\/p>\n
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Bigger and better… Thanks to Fashionphile, Luxe Collective will benefit from a stronger capital base, authentication expertise, and global logistics<\/b>.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis acquisition allows us to combine the cultural relevance and strong community of Luxe Collective with the scale, technology, and authentication expertise of Fashionphile,\u201d said Ben Hemminger, co-founder and CEO of Fashionphile<\/b>. The UK has a long history of reselling luxury goods, but no one does it on our scale. With Ben and Joe Gallagher, we intend to change that.”<\/p>\n
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The founding duo of Luxe Collective will continue their adventure at Fashionphile UK,<\/b> leading its UK operations, with Joe Gallagher as Chief Operating Officer and Ben Gallagher as Chief Marketing Officer<\/b> of the brand.<\/p>\n
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\u201cFrom day one, Luxe Collective has been committed to creating a community and sparking an inclusive and exciting dialogue around luxury. With FASHIONPHILE, we now have the opportunity to bring this spirit to a global audience while remaining true to the values that have made our community so loyal from the beginning,\u201d says Ben Gallagher.<\/p>\n
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Relaunched under the name Fashionphile UK, the former Luxe Collective will initially resume operations under the domain LuxeCollectiveFashion.com, while its social media accounts will be consolidated under the hybrid banner \u201cFashionphile Collective.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The opening of an authentication center and flagship store in London is imminent.<\/p>\n
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Now under the Fashionphile umbrella, Luxe Collective’s business will also be less vulnerable<\/b> to this new scourge affecting the luxury resale market across the Channel. In late 2024 and early 2025, two British platforms, Break Archive and Phoenix Style<\/b>, were victims of thefts similar to those that caused Luxe Collective to close.<\/p>\n
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The existence of stocks of luxury goods concentrated in a single space makes this type of site particularly attractive to criminals, according to the trade press.<\/p>\n
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For Fashionphile<\/b>, the acquisition of Luxe Collective marks its first steps into the British and European markets<\/b>. Fashionphile had already begun to expand its reach in America with the acquisition in 2023 and 2024 of two Canadian players: luxury resale retailer LXRandCo and Two Authenticators Inc<\/b>., a Montreal-based distributor of authenticated vintage products.<\/p>\n
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Founded in San Diego in 1999 by Sarah Davis and Ben Hemminger<\/b>, Fashionphile was a pioneer in the United States<\/b> (before the RealReal and Rebag<\/b>, created in 2011 and 2014), and went on to become a leader in the authenticated resale of handbags and accessories from the biggest luxury brands.<\/p>\n
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By way of comparison, the oldest players in online luxury resale appeared later in Europe, namely in 2009 and 2013 for Vestiaire Collective and Resee in France, and in 2012 and 2018 for Hardly Ever Worn It and Luxe Collective in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
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But while Americans initially focused on technology and the importance of the authentication process, Europeans placed fashion curation, sustainability, and community engagement at the heart of their models.<\/p>\n
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“Six years ago, about a year after I started Luxe Collective, I discovered a US-based company that was doing exactly the same thing as us, except that it seemed much more professional and had 20,000 items in stock, compared to maybe 80 for us at the time. It turned out that this company had been around for 20 years, had been founded by a woman and her brother-in-law, and had a turnover of over $500 million,” Ben Gallagher explains today with a certain humility.<\/p>\n
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While allowing the former Luxe Collective to continue to exist, Fashionphile has thus gained a new lever to achieve its goal: to become the world’s leading second-hand platform for luxury accessories.<\/p>\n
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