Ebay’s Love Island collaboration causes surge in pre-loved popularity

Reality show Love Island, previously known for its fast fashion-clad contestants, took on a major shift for its latest season announcing a new partnership with second-hand platform, Ebay.

The deal, which was revealed at the beginning of May, has seen the popular UK series take a step in a more sustainable direction, with each of its ‘Islanders’ sporting a selection of pre-loved items provided by the marketplace – a move that seems to be having an effect on its viewership.

According to the show’s television network ITV, Ebay has seen 700 percent more searches for ‘pre-loved fashion’ since the announcement, while Google reported 750 percent more searches for ‘Ebay pre-loved clothes’.

“It’s still early days but we have already seen a shift in consumer shopping habits since the first episode hit our screens just [five] weeks ago,” said Jemma Tadd, Ebay UK’s head of fashion, in a press release from ITV.

Tadd continued: “Searches for ‘pre-loved’ are peaking and conversation around the fashion worn by Islanders continues to grow.”

Among the looks seen on the show, participants have been spotted in pre-loved pieces from the likes of Jacquemus, Moschino, Tommy Hilfiger and Gucci, with each allowed to select their own outfits to show off their personalities.

ITV’s data has been further backed by research carried out by private tutoring platform Superprof, which asked 2,000 UK-based shoppers for their take on the pre-loved shopping hype.

According to the platform’s results, 48.8 percent of respondents said they preferred to buy from pre-loved and sustainable brands, with Millennials topping the list as the most “sustainable shoppers”. However, younger generations, 18 to 24 year olds, came out as equal when choosing between pre-loved and fast fashion.

As part of Superprof’s report, Love Island contestant Brett Staniland said in a statement that the results were “promising news” for second-hand fashion, noting that there were still many adverts to go, as the series is set to continue until August 1.

Staniland continued: “The impact Love Island has socially and culturally had in the UK is huge, as well as setting precedent for other popular TV shows, so I’m still optimistic as to which other shows might change their sponsorship and where this all goes in the next few months.”