Second hand clothes on Love Island a "step in the right direction" says Essex lecturer
The show begins again tonight
Love Island begins tonight and for the first time, contestants will be wearing second-hand clothes sourced from eBay.
The has show previously received criticism from sustainability campaigners for partnering with fast fashion brands and promoting a disposable attitude to clothing.
Doctor Katy Wheeler, a Sociology lecturer at the University of Essex, thinks the news is positive: "It really is a step in the right direction. Obviously the show has come under attack in previous years for those partnerships with fast fashion brands and for promoting a throwaway or disposable attitude to clothing.
"Therefore, it really does matter that they've recognised that's problematic and have partnered with eBay to show how a shift of resources and re-focussing on the culture of reuse can be trendy too."
Viewers will be able to see clothes featured on the show via a ‘Shop the Show’ tab on the official Love Island app - something Katy believes may inspire audiences to consider shopping second hand as well: "It's very hard to say that there is a direct relationship between what we see on our screens and then what we do.
"However, we do know that shows like Love Island have had huge success in motivating forms of consumption, partly through partnerships the show has formed, along with the opportunities for in app purchasing.
"This partnership is talking to a different sort of audience than, perhaps, those already committed to sustainability.
"Love Island has a huge viewership and potentially can get the message of sustainability out to other people."
Whilst Katy welcomes the partnership and believes it could have a positive impact, she says there's still more to be done: "Change certainly doesn't happen overnight. It's a slow and incremental incremental process...
"Love Island doing something like this potentially shows that there is an appetite for an alternative to fast fashion out there.
"Does it go far enough? Probably not, but it's certainly a start...
"This is the year that they they engage with second hand clothing but maybe in the future we could see a Love Island set on an eco island - you never know."