colorful dresses

Love Island always promises a good watch when it comes to fashion. From the underboob of 2021 to the perspex heels of 2019, the show undeniably creates trends that live on past the season’s finale date.

With eBay as this year’s fashion sponsor, avid watchers were promised a change in direction, with a move away from fast fashion, and towards scoring second-hand bargains online. And thanks to Amy Bannerman, the stylist who developed an archive of pre-loved pieces for the show, there have been some real fashion highlights.

Tasha, who’s been turning heads as the fashion star in the villa, has been spotted in a vintage Versace two-piece, a Diesel leather number, and a red co-ord by Gaultier Junior to name a few of her best moments. And it doesn’t stop there - Indiyah has shown her penchant for old season Poster Girl and Mark Fast designs, whilst Dami and Luca have opted for shirts from Pleats Please Issey Miyake and Gucci respectively.

When sourcing clothing, Bannerman and her team have been focussing on curating looks around themes created with current runway inspiration and the Love Island aesthetic in mind, like ‘Blurred Lines’, a gender fluid aesthetic which she explains has been adopted by the boys as well as the girls: “there has been a satin silky satin cream shirt that a few of the boys have worn which is very much crossing those lines. And of course, Tasha wearing the Champion men’s bomber jacket which she styled off the shoulder, definitely shone through for the trend.”

Other categories include ‘Dopamine Dressing’ seen through Tasha’s brights and the Poster Girl dresses, Y2K, which has been a go-to for contestants, with many islanders sporting corsets, cargo pants, and beaded jewellery throughout, and Love Me Forever, a category that Bannerman explains has been adopted by Gemma: “Love Me Forever is very Gemma’s vibe with lots of very classic, keep forever garments which she dazzles in. As well as Tasha in that leather Diesel dress which really transcends trends.”

When it comes to their own clothes, though, it was back to business as usual with fast fashion brands PrettyLittleThing, Boohoo, Oh Polly and ASOS as some of their labels of choice. As you’d expect, the cut-out-dress was a hot favourite, alongside the usual barely there bikinis and bodycon pieces.

Bannerman explained in an interview with Glamour: “I know a lot of the girls like those bodycon looks, or brands they veer towards such as Shein or Oh Polly – so we’ve been looking at designers like Christopher Esber, who does lots of cutouts, vintage Mark Fast, who obviously originated the whole tire fabric dress thing, and Hervé Leger”, the latter having been worn by Ekin-Su.

Even better, she hopes that this season may dissuade them from shopping fast fashion in future seasons: “I think that this partnership with eBay would hopefully have encouraged them to shop pre-loved, look at designers they didn’t know about or look for the brands that they really like online.” And with searches for pre-loved fashion up 700 per cent on eBay, we hope so too.

So, from corsets to cargos, midaxis to micro minis, we’ve taken a look at the best (and the worst) trends from this year’s show below.

Upside down & three-piece bikinis

Every season the islanders forge a new swimwear style, from the underboob last year, to the neon styles of 2019.

This year’s edition is the topsy turvy upside down bikini, favoured by bombshell Antigoni (alongside the likes of Kendall and Kylie Jenner), who, by the way, has her own swimwear label. The three-piece bikini set, which includes a matching cover-up, also seemed to be all the rage.

According to data at New Look, searches for ‘three-piece bikini set’ increased by 250 per cent after the show started, so it’s looking like the swimwear trio is here to stay.Read more at:grey formal dresses | green formal dress