Last year, eBay took what some viewed as a risky strategy with a preloved Love Island partnership, showcasing fashion from their used inventory on ITV’s flagship show. It’s been announced today that due to the phenomenal impact on consumer behaviour that the preloved Love Island partnership has been renewed for the 2023 season.
New research from ITV reveals one in two (53 percent) of Love Island viewers aware of the eBay partnership said they’d bought pre-loved in the past three months, more than double the amount for those who hadn’t watched or been aware of the partnership. That’s an amazing stat and shows the power of reality TV to change consumer perceptions and actions.
It bodes well for sellers of preloved clothing, from the smallest to those who run large enterprises focused on extracting the maximum life from garments. It also signals that while fast fashion has ruled many of our lives with a wear it once attitude, that times are changing and consumers are getting serious about sustainability.
As part of a move away from fast fashion on the show, viewers at home followed suit and since the announcement, eBay UK has seen 1600% more searches for ‘pre-loved clothes’. There have also been 24% more new circular fashion businesses that joined the online marketplace.
If you’re reading this thinking it doesn’t apply to you as you only sell new garments or don’t sell fashion at all, consider that eBay’s preloved Love Island partnership is bringing a new clientele to the marketplace and once they start shopping there will be spill over into other categories. It’s not just a play to shift preloved clothing – it’s a play to attract brand new buyers to the site that have never considered shopping on eBay before they were exposed to a preloved Love Island.
Showing that pre-loved fashion is not just a trend, but is here to stay, eBay’s Pre-loved Fashion Stylist, Amy Bannerman will once again be sourcing fashion from eBay to style series 9’s Islanders in pre-loved. Alongside pre-loved clothes, for the first time, a selection of pre-loved, authenticated sneakers and items from its Imperfects range will also be heading to the villa wardrobe.
Islanders will embrace pre-loved garments with a dynamic curated shared wardrobe situated in the new villa. Showcasing how they ‘couple up with pre-loved’, viewers can expect to see the Islanders wearing fits that reflect their personalities and individuality, while doing their bit to extend the life cycle of clothes.
We’re so excited to be returning to the Love Island villa in this series to put pre-loved fashion, centrestage. The partnership has already shown its impact with Islanders and our Pre-loved Ambassador Tasha Ghouri demonstrating their true style and flair with pre-loved looks. We’re very excited to continue this conversation and show the nation how good pre-loved really can look.
– Kirsty Keoghan, Global GM of Fashion , eBay
We are thrilled to be pairing up with eBay again as our pre-loved fashion partner. We are excited to keep working with ebay and to keep highlighting more conscious ways of shopping on screen. This partnership will see our lucky Islanders get to pick and wear some incredible clothes sourced from eBay. We love pre-loved.
– Mike Spencer, Creative Director of Love Island, Lifted Entertainment
