Matches to shut down for good on 30 June

Matches is to close forever at the end of this month after a period in which it has been clearing stock under the control of its administrators.

The luxury fashion e-tailer was put into administration earlier this year, just a few months after Frasers Group had paid around £50 million to buy it.

Customers received an email on Wednesday afternoon telling them that the site will close at midnight on 30 June and offering an extra 20% off selected discounted items for anyone spending at least £200/€200/$250.

Labels being offered with the extra 20% off include Zimmermann, Matches’ own Raey brand, The Row, Reformation, Ulla Johnson, Norma Kamali, Prada, Rains, Moncler Genius, Gabriela Hearst and more.

It’s a sad end for a business that was sold by its founders Ruth and Tom Chapman for a reported £800 million in the last decade after having grown from a single store in Wimbledon and riding the wave of the online revolution.

In its heyday, its townhouse in Mayfair was a key destination for VIP shoppers while the webstore itself was one of the key players in convincing luxury consumers to shop online. Along with Net-A-Porter and Farfetch, it gave UK-based businesses a disproportionately large stake in online luxury fashion retail.

The company’s downfall couldn’t have been predicted just half a decade ago. Apax bought control in 2017 when e-tail was seen as the future and Matches was riding high.

But there were already challenges before the pandemic started and while the global health crisis was a boon to some online businesses lower down the price scale, Matches struggled and the quick turnover of CEOs was a clear sign that things weren’t going well. 

Its final CEO, Nick Beighton, was faced with a business on the ropes and in danger of collapse. The Frasers purchase in late December at a knockdown price looked like it meant the company would survive in some form. But Frasers quickly admitted that turning it around would be too tough and put it into administration. It has since re-bought certain intellectual property assets, but shows no sign of relaunching the site.

Coming round about the same time as Farfetch’s fall from grace and ongoing efforts on the part of Richemont to offload Yoox Net-A-Porter, its failure underlined the challenges faced by anyone trying to make big money from selling luxury via the web.