THE JOURNAL
Is Love Island – Yes, Love Island – Changing Our Relationship With Vintage Clothes?
Love Island, series eight, 2022. Photograph by Lifted Entertainment, courtesy of ITV
Fans of Love Island might have noticed something different about the reality dating show/anthropological experiment this summer. And it’s good news if all the outfits of previous seasons – no doubt now clogging up landfill waste sites – gave you the ick. For series eight, maker ITV has been grafting and teamed up with a certain auction website (yep, that one) to switch out the fast fashion for second-hand ensembles – Pre-Loved Island, you could call it. It is what it is. But what, exactly, is it?
Can I pull you for a chat?
Sure, what is it, babes?
Why are we talking about Love Island on, like, MR PORTER? Now, we’re here for it, obvs, 100 per cent. But what is this: a hot take on fast fashion?
Sort of. You see, rather than have its eggs all in one fast-fashion basket, this year’s Love Island is all about vintage clothing.
Are you trying to mug me off?
No, the show has made a real connection with online auction house eBay, which is now dressing contestants in pre-worn clothes.
Items that have been around a few times? Crack on.
Edits based on the outfits on the show are then available online, so if you see something that you like the look of, you can make a bid on it. Or at least, something that, like, looks like it.
There’s a few bits I’d like to do bits with, yes. That sounds good on paper. But is it?
For the environment, yes. The average consumer is said to buy 60 per cent more clothing than they did 15 years ago, and much of that just gets ditched. Furthermore, a 2017 report suggested that 85 per cent of textiles thrown away in the US are dumped or burnt.
You’ve got my number. Now let’s hope that I get a text.
Here’s another number: according to eBay, 20 per cent of people in Britain are buying more second-hand clothes. And ITV, the maker of the show, has seen the potential of this shift. “They’re looking at the direction the market is going in, and they’re thinking about how they can set themselves apart from other dating shows,” Mr Brett Staniland – who featured in last year’s series, and who pointedly brought his own wardrobe with him – recently told The Guardian.
“You need to look at the bigger picture. Beyond your 43in screen”
They aren’t melts.
Sure, and already eBay is showing that searches for items like those in the show rocket by 200 per cent. But you need to look at the bigger picture. Beyond your 43in screen, I mean. This year, at the Met Gala, Ms Kim Kardashian famously wore – and, allegedly, damaged – the dress that Ms Marilyn Monroe sang “Happy Birthday” to President John F Kennedy in, and, let’s just say it turned heads. And while MR PORTER has long supported brands such as BODE, Story Mfg. and numerous labels that reuse and upcycle garments, meeting the guiding principles of our Craftsmanship Code, Love Island and the Kardashians have a lot of cultural clout.
So, where’s MR PORTER’s head at?
Well, not only have we got sauce, MR PORTER also has its own resell service, MR PORTER RESELL. We’ve partnered with Reflaunt to help our shoppers sell on any items of clothing that…
That you want to pie off.
I was going to say that you thought could go to a new home. Maybe the vibes were just off.
Not me. I’m keeping my clothing. If there’s one thing I am, it’s loyal, babes.