Fashion Investments and M&A

Date: October 2025
Buyer: US luxury resale giant, Fashionphile
Target: UK luxury resale platform, Luxe Collective
Value: Reportedly around £10 million
Details: Fashionphile has acquired Luxe Collective’s intellectual property, customer database and social-media channels, marking its formal entry into the UK market. Luxe Collective’s co-founders, Ben Gallagher and Joe Gallagher, will join the new UK business, with Ben taking role of Director of Brand Marketing and Joe becoming Director of Operations, preserving the brand’s original creative community-led identity. The acquisition is expected to enable Luxe Collective to benefit from Fashionphile’s scale, authentication expertise and infrastructure, while FASHIONPHILE gains an established UK luxury-resale community and cultural voice. The deal follows a difficult period for Luxe Collective: after a £500k warehouse theft in July 2024 and with the business announcing closure in May 2025. The acquisition brings together Luxe Collective’s entrepreneurial spirit and digital community expertise with Fashionphile’s operational strength and global scale, creating a powerful force in the expanding ultra-luxury resale market.

Date: October 2025
Buyer: Auralis (a new buy-and-build vehicle created by UK-based private equity and debt investor, Total Capital Partners)
Target: British casual lifestyle clothing brand, Weird Fish
Value: The transaction values Weird Fish at c.£35 million
Details: Auralis, the newly established retail group backed by Total Capital Partners, has acquired British casual lifestyle brand Weird Fish in a deal valuing the business at around £35 million. The acquisition marks the first step in Auralis’ buy-and-build strategy to assemble a portfolio of mid-market retail and lifestyle brands. It is reported that Weird Fish will serve as the group’s anchor brand, driving further acquisitions and accelerating growth across the UK high street. The deal highlights renewed investor confidence in the UK retail sector and positions Auralis as a major new player in the revitalisation of British high-street fashion.

Date: October 2025
Buyer: UK-based retail and lifestyle conglomerate, Frasers Group
Target: Major luxury multi-brand retailer, The Webster
Value: Undisclosed
Details: Frasers Group has acquired a majority stake in the luxury fashion retailer, The Webster. Founded in 2008, The Webster operates 13 boutiques across North America and showcases more than 100 leading designer brands. Under the terms of the transaction, The Webster will continue to operate as an independent business within Frasers’ Flannels luxury division, with founder Hériard Dubreuil remaining as CEO. The investment marks Frasers Group’s first major entry into the North American luxury market and forms a key part of its ongoing Elevation Strategy, reinforcing the group’s commitment to expanding its global luxury portfolio and international presence.

Date: September 2025
Buyer: Premium baby and children's clothing brand, Mori
Target: Luxury baby changing bag and accessories brand, Storksak plus its slightly more accessible sister brand, Babymel
Value: Undisclosed
Details: Premium baby and children’s clothing brand, Mori has acquired luxury baby-changing bag label Storksak and its more accessible sister brand, Babymel, in a move that marks a strategic union of like-minded names. United by a shared commitment to quality, timeless design, and functional solutions for modern parents, the deal allows Mori to broaden its product range, connect with new customer touchpoints, and accelerate its expansion – particularly in the US – while safeguarding the heritage and brand value built by Storksak and Babymel.

Date: August 2025
Buyer: Premium sportswear brand, Castore
Target: British heritage fashion label, Belstaff
Value: Undisclosed
Details: Ineos’ role: While Belstaff is handing over control, Ineos will reinvest by taking a significant strategic stake in Castore, reinforcing a continued relationship Premium sportswear brand, Castore’s acquisition of Belstaff marks a strategic union – merging the legacy of a storied British fashion label with Castore’s modern retail know-how. The deal enables Belstaff to benefit from Castore’s growth engine, while Ineos maintains influence through its new stake. The two brands share a vision rooted in British heritage, purpose-led design, and entrepreneurial spirit; a partnership poised to navigate the next chapter for both.

Date: August 2025
Buyer: US private equity firm, Story3 Capital Partners
Business: UK womenswear athleisure brand
Value: The partnership values Adanola at c. $530m
Details: US private equity firm, Story3 Capital Partners has invested in Adanola as part of the UK womenswear athleisure brand’s plans to drive powerful global growth. Known for its high-profile supporters including Kendall Jenner, Molly Mae Hague and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Adanola mainly operates via its online store and digital channels. It now plans to fuel rapid growth by expanding its retail presence, with ambitions for own-brand stores.

Date: July 2025
Buyer: British off-price e-fashion marketplace, Secret Sales
Business: Off-price fashion marketplace
Details: British off-price e-fashion marketplace, Secret Sales, acquires Vroom & Dreesmann and To Be Dressed. Known for its advanced tech platform, Secret Sales aims to further advance its cutting-edge e-commerce model with these two new acquisitions. The acquisitions mean that Secret Sales now cover seven European markets, thus strengthening its European growth, and sees Secret Sales service 17 million registered users and power over 4,500 global brands.

Date: January 2025
Buyer: Marquee Brands
Target: Laura Ashley
Business: Homewares and Women’s Clothing Brand
Value: Undisclosed
Details: New York-based Marquee Brands has acquired Laura Ashley, the British heritage womenswear and homeware brand, from Gordon Brothers for an undisclosed amount. Gordon Brothers acquired Laura Ashley out of administration in 2020, and have sold to Marquee Brands, the owner of Ben Sherman and the Martha Stewart brand, for an undisclosed amount. As part of the deal, the existing Laura Ashley management ream will remain in place, and Marquee Brands will open a new European headquarters in London.

Date: January 2025
Buyer: Sociedad Textil Lonia
Target: Christian Lacroix
Business: Luxury womenswear
Value: Undisclosed
Details: French luxury womenswear label, Christian Lacroix, founded by the eponymous Christian Lacroix, has been sold by Falic Group to Sociedad Textil Lonia (STL), a Spanish company, for an undisclosed amount. Falic Group, which specialises in duty-free retail, acquired the business in 2005 from LVMH, who had been a key investor from the brand’s creation in 1987. SLT is a textile company with its own design team, production facilities for ready-to-wear and accesses, and a distribution network. Puig, the Spanish fashion and fragrance retail giant, is a 25% shareholder in SLT.