Love Island contestants will ditch fast fashion for second-hand clothes this year
This year’s Love Island contestants will wear second-hand clothes after the ITV show announced a new partnership with eBay UK.
The partnership marks the first time the show, which is famed for partnering with fast fashion brands like I Saw It First and Missguided, has partnered with a pre-loved clothing company.
This means this year’s Islanders will exclusively be wearing pre-loved clothes, unless they bring their own into the villa. The clothes from eBay will be available to them in the cast’s shared wardrobe in the new villa.
Mike Spencer, executive producer of Love Island, said: “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.
“This partnership will see our Islanders get to dive into the shared wardrobes and help themselves to some incredible pre-loved clothes sourced from eBay. We aim to inspire our demographic and show that there are incredible finds to be had and how sharing is, in some small way, caring.”
The collaboration comes after research from eBay found that 20 per cent of Britons buy more second-hand fashion now than two years ago, and those aged 18 to 24 have the largest haul of pre-loved clothes in their closets compared to other age groups.
The data also found that money-saving (54 per cent) and environmental factors (37 per cent) were the biggest reasons why people shop second hand.
Love Island partnerships can be lucrative for fashion brands, as eBay’s data found that after last year’s winner Millie Court wore a marbled dress on the show, searched for marbled dresses rose by 127 per cent.
Jemma Tadd, head of fashion at eBay UK said: “We’re so excited to partner with Love Island this year and put pre-loved fashion centrestage. 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.
“We can’t wait to change the conversation and dress the Islanders in pre-loved outfits for the very first time.”