If you’re spending your evenings utterly consumed by ITV’s first-ever Love Island All Stars series, you’ve no doubt drool over the contestants’ wardrobe.
But before you go firing up your favourite online store, we’ll give you the heads up – you’ll be wasting your time.
Why? Because everything you see the Islanders wearing is in fact completely second-hand, from eBay no less.
Yup – we can starting kissing goodbye to fast fashion on the telly as eBay are on a mission to keep second-hand front and centre.
HuffPost UK met Jemma Tadd, Head of Fashion, eBay UK and Amy Bannerman, eBay’s Pre-Loved Style Director to find out more about the villa’s wardrobe and more importantly, how we can recreate it for ourselves...
Building a wardrobe for Love Island
So how exactly do the items for the Islanders get selected? Before any Islander heads into the villa, stylists chat to them first to find out about their style, Amy explains.
“We’ve got a huge shared wardrobe that’s kept in a huge space out of the villa and we’ve got a stylist who then puts items into the villa every three days or so,” Amy shares.
“And as we get to know the Islanders’ styles, we’ll pick things that align more with them.”
However, no clothes are allocated to just one Islander, as the wardrobe in the villa is completely shared between them all.
“What’s surprising is how much camaraderie there is – yeah they’ll all rush to get their items of clothing but everyone’s suggesting pieces for one another,” Amy adds.
Seeing double
If you find yourself thinking you’re sure you’ve seen a certain outfit on screen before while tuning in, you’re absolutely correct.
According to Amy, once an item is worn, it’s taken and cleaned before being put back in the villa’s wardrobe, so you can quite often see Islanders wearing an item that someone else has already sported on an episode a couple of days prior.
And some of the items of clothing aren’t even exclusive to that series.
Jemma explains: “I think we’ve done a really good job with Amy in terms of you’ll see stuff that being worn on Love Island three seasons ago.”
“One of the main things I wanted to do was to encourage wearing and sharing – some of the fittings have been worn in that villa since the first season eBay did, and they’ve been worn every season by different people,” Amy adds.
The reason for all the rewearing? To encourage those of us watching to think about how to get the most out of own wardrobes.
“We’re hoping to help phase out that attitude of ‘oh I have to buy something new because I wore that outfit last time I went out’,” Amy explains.
“We want people to think ‘I’ll wear it again but I’ll wear it differently, I’ll style it in a different way’, which is something we’re encouraging through seeing different people wearing the same thing. It shows how different it can look.”
Nailing eBay shopping the Love Island way
“When this partnership came up with Love Island we decided just to go for it and I think the reason why we did it, is that we took a big risk, and we did what people didn’t expect us to do – I mean dressing Love Islanders in eBay? That’s not what anyone expected to see,” says Jemma.
Consider us well and truly converted. But how do we trawl eBay to find gems like Amy and her team have for Love Island?
Well fortunately, as Jemma explains, eBay now offers curated edits of items so that we can shop similar looks for ourselves (no seriously, this Love Island edit is UNREAL).
“eBay is like a treasure chest, it’s such a bonus to have such breadth of inventory, but at the same time people sometimes can’t find stuff. As a team, we were aware of this and how that translates on site is making edits and signposts in terms of where you can shop Love Island dresses, for example.”
How to rewear like a pro
Not looking to add more to your wardrobe but instead restyle your iconic wardrobe items a la Love Island? No worries, Amy has her list of tips for you.
- Incorporate different fabrics - I recently wore my Issey Miyake mid length summer dress under my Collagerie kilt, which looked like an Issey top I’ve always wanted and also kept my legs a bit warmer. Embrace thermal base layers and fabrics such as pointelle, which is having a real comeback and offers some interesting detail too.
- Layer it up - For winter outerwear try layering multiple jackets, a thick sweater with a fitted denim jacket and an oversized trench coat is a timeless layering combination and means you will get more use out of your lighter weight summer jackets.
- Update with footwear - Trainers can instantly update any outfit and will work year round so these are a great investment in terms of cost per wear and versatility. With eBay UK’s Authenticity Guarantee offering you can ensure you’re getting an added layer of confidence when you purchase your new favourite pair.
- Try a new colour - If something is a bit old or tired, dye it. Look out for companies which use natural dyers made from seasonal plants to create colour change without using chemicals.
- Make something old, something new - If your clothes have holes from moths or lots of wear, use repair companies to cover them using embroidery which is bespoke to you, perhaps some flowers or your initials. Your item will not only be mended, it will be more special than it was to start with!