The Love Island winner Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu has signed a deal to work with the fashion brand Oh Polly. The deal is said to be worth about £1m – thought to be the biggest in the show’s history.
The Sun reported that Cülcüloğlu had chosen to work with Oh Polly because it “aligned to her own values of sustainability”, unlike fast fashion brands. However, when Good on You, the website that rates brands based on their ethical and sustainable values, rated Oh Polly in June 2021, it gives the brand a “we avoid” rating, the same as the previous Love Island sponsor, the fast fashion brand Pretty Little Thing.
Oh Polly does align itself to environmental and ethical values. An environmental manifesto on its website says: “we want to be transparent with our customers, open up the conversation on climate change and show our commitment to a happier, healthier planet!”
Cülcüloğlu wore Oh Polly 27 times on Love Island this year, the most of any contestant. These items would have been pre-owned. This series was marked by a more sustainable wardrobe, with all items sourced from eBay. The site enjoyed a boost thanks to this collaboration. A month after the series started, it had a 700% increase in searches for “pre-loved fashion’” while Google reported a 756% rise in searches for “eBay preloved clothes” compared with the previous month.
