Love Island seems like an unlikely place for true love to flourish, let alone sustainability; however, do not be fooled, for Love Island’s style collaboration with eBay has shifted a young audience’s focus from fast fashion to second-hand pieces.
Starting in Love Island UK’s 8th season, eBay UK’s stylist Amy Bannerman has transformed the shared wardrobe of islanders with second hand pieces from the eBay collection. The collaboration meant that second hand pieces graced TV screens with every episode, and even led islander Tasha Ghouri to become the first eBay Pre-Loved Fashion Ambassador. More shocking than the unlikely couple were the effects of the collaboration: a survey from ITV YouGov in 2022, soon after the season first aired, reveals that 53 percent of Love Island’s viewers who took note of the collaboration had recently bought a second-hand item. Furthermore, searches for “pre-loved clothes” increased by 170 percent on Google.
The link between Love Island and this rise in searches for pre-loved clothing shines plain as day. At first glance, the relationship seems bizarre; how could a set of love-hungry people sell such a caring approach to fashion so well? Love Island shows the influence that TV personalities, social media content creators, and celebrities have on the wardrobes of onlookers. By aiming to cultivate earth-friendly style, regardless of trending influences, showcasing sustainable pieces in media can inspire new audiences to purchase pre-owned pieces.
A statistic from 2023 by Earth.org reveals that 92 million tonnes of clothing end up in landfills every year across the globe, causing irreversible damage. Modern clothing consumption habits will not cease to exist soon, but a shift to sustainable fashion on Love Island indicates that a new, sustainable time has to be on the way.
Sources
