Frasers Group gears up for members-only Matches Fashion return

An internal pitch deck seen by The Times shows that Frasers Group had been working on plans to turn Matches into the “Soho House of retail” around the same time that it placed the luxury platform into administration last year.

This comes after Frasers Group bought back the Matches brand name and intellectual property in a pre-pack administration deal in April last year for £19m.

The deal excluded the luxury platform’s £80m of stock and 250 employees, and came a month after it put Matches into administration due to there being “too much change required to restructure it” just three months after buying it.

The proposal by Frasers Group, which is understood to be being pitched to luxury brands, includes a relaunch of Matches as a dedicated members fashion and lifestyle concept.

The new concept could be launched by the end of this year and is expected to offer personalised shopping, grant early access to exclusive products, luxury gifts and access to events across its London store estate.

The first phase, which is being led by Frasers Group chief brand partnerships officer David Epstein and former Matches womenswear director Leanne Wiggins, is expected to focus on womenswear and launch in spring/summer 2026 before expanding into menswear and “new global markets”.

The deck also suggests that while the plan is in its early stages, it could include the reopening of former Matches stores on both Welbeck Street and Carlos Place, London.

The newspaper reports that the deck indicates that members of the relaunch will be invited to join by a committee of founder members and “global tastemakers”, likening it to the exclusivity of private member clubs such as Soho House.

Frasers Group is understood to have received interest from a number of brands, but the timing of the initiative has reportedly “frustrated others” following the collapse.

Frasers Group remains a secured creditor to Matches and as a result is expected to receive the £94.4m it is owed, while the amount owed to unsecured creditors, including the likes of Burberry and Cefinn, has hit £50m and they will not be paid.

Former Matches chief executive Nick Beighton said he thought the new proposition was a “good one” but added that the “fall down will be whether Frasers is able to get enough brands to want to work with them”.

Frasers Group declined to comment.