Yahoo News Love Island Is Dumping Fast Fashion And This Is Why It Matters
eBay x Love Island Collab (Photo: eBay)
Love Island season is quickly approaching and for the first time ever islanders will be wearing second-hand clothes, as eBay is now the show’s first ever pre-loved fashion partner.
This season, islanders will wear second-hand clothes, with a shared wardrobe situated in the new villa for the first time ever. Viewers will watch contestants show off outfits that will reflect their personality whilst playing their part to extend the life cycle of clothes.
It marks a huge tone shift for the show, considering it previously partnered with I Saw It First and alumni have gone on to be brand ambassadors for the likes of Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing and Asos.
It matters, because Love Island is big business in the world of fashion. Online fashion sales grew by more than a tenth while the reality show ran last summer, research found.
The collaboration comes as new research from eBay highlights that UK shoppers are becoming increasingly aware of fast fashion. A fifth (20%) of Brits say they buy more second-hand fashion compared to two years ago and on average, they reckon 16% of their wardrobes are made up of pre-loved clothes.
Those aged 18 to 34 have the highest average percentage of second-hand clothes in their wardrobe (22%), nearly double that of over 55s (12%).
In the last year, searches for ‘pre-loved clothes’ have increased significantly, with Gen Z in particular driving the trend, as 80% confirm that they have recently bought second-hand goods.
(Photo: eBay)
Fashion on Love Island is a big part of the show, which is why fans often look to replicate the looks of their favourite islanders. Last year’s winner Millie proved the biggest trendsetter, with her one shoulder marble dress inspiring a 127% rise in searches for ‘marble dress’ and her hot pink co-ord causing a 114% search spike.
Cassandra Dittmer who is a sustainable stylist, thinks eBay pairing up with Love Island is incredible. “Any person or platform with influence who promotes shopping more responsibly is a positive move,“ Dittmer says.
“Like it or not, Love Island sets trends and causes spikes in shopping after each episode. Setting a trend to get creative with second-hand shopping and encouraging shared wardrobes could be game-changing.”
Ebay (Photo: eBay)
Dittmer believes it’s really important for people to see second-hand fashion on TV. “Seeing this message amplified on TV will highlight this shopping approach to the masses, and also show that buying sustainably doesn’t need to blow the budget. Any age, any budget, any size, and any style can all get involved,” she says.
She explains that “the rise of fast (and ultra fast!) fashion in the past decade has flooded our wardrobes, charity shops and sadly landfills all over the world, it’s time to tune in to second-hand shopping and move away from thinking of clothing as short-term disposable pieces”.
When asked if she thinks more people are becoming aware of the consequences of fast-fashion, Dittmer says: “I think it’s still hard for people to connect the climate crisis to the shirt on our back.
“But with more and more awareness, education, and huge platforms like Love Island making changes, I think it’s only a matter of time before the demand for newness, no matter the cost on people and planet, will be a thing of the past.”
Unsurprisingly, the Love Island execs and team at eBay are pretty pumped for the collab.
“We are thrilled to be pairing up with eBay this year as our pre-loved fashion partner. As a show we strive to be a more eco-friendly production with more focus on ways in which we can visibly show this on screen,” Mike Spencer, executive producer of Love Island said.
Jemma Tadd, head of fashion at eBay UK, added: “We’re so excited to partner with Love Island this year and put pre-loved fashion, centre stage.
“The impact of Love Island and its stars across the UK is undeniable and together we want to inspire the nation to choose pre-loved first when shopping – even if this means buying or selling one or two pre-loved items to start with, it’s a step in the right direction.”
This article originally appeared on HuffPost UK and has been updated.
