Emma McAndrew
The latest Love Island stars snapping up new influencing opportunities is hardly surprising to see following yet another successful year of the hit ITV dating show. Something else that doesn’t come as a shock, is fast fashion brand Pretty Little Thing coming under fire for appointing this years’ runner-up, Gemma Owen, as their new brand ambassador.
Whilst many have highlighted hints of hypocrisy that contradict Gemma’s personal style both before and after the series, there have also been accusations of her six figure signing being deeply rooted in the status of her famous footballing father – a favouring of the retailer’s publicity over their audience’s desires.
Gemma’s Style
To put it bluntly, Gemma Owen’s style demonstrates the beauty of the basics. Whilst she manages to look flawless in everything she wears, her style lacks the inspiration and influence that the ambassador of a top fashion brand might be expected to display.
Her Love Island stint saw the international dressage rider repeatedly rocking the likes of cargo trousers paired with tiny tight tops, which she has also been photographed wearing multiple times on her Instagram. It is evident that she tends to shy away from experimenting with fashion and likes to stick to the same standard looks. Despite her style being safe and timeless, which she shouldn’t be criticised for in itself, it offers little to no inspiration for new elements that could be implemented into Pretty Little Thing, and suggests that upcoming products would be similar to what is already available on their website.
“difficult to envision what improvements are to be made”
The introduction of a new brand ambassador would imply that the retailer is looking to make changes to their business, yet it is difficult to envision what improvements are to be made to their product lines based on Gemma’s personal style.
Gemma’s Privilege
Let’s address the elephant in the room. Gemma Owen is not an everyday working class teenager pulled from the street. She is, of course, the daughter of world famous professional footballer Michael Owen.
Although the outfits that Gemma has been seen wearing admittedly look as if they could be replicated by shopping on Pretty Little Thing‘s website, it is perhaps fair to assume that it is not a place where the Owen family commonly buy their clothes from, given their assumed wealth.
Whilst on Love Island, Gemma was repeatedly spotted sporting a $50,000 Tiffany & Co necklace. With this much cash to splash on jewellery, it appears that Gemma may prefer to shop in more high end stores – a contrast to Pretty Little Thing‘s budget pricing. These choices have sparked questions regarding Gemma’s brand awareness and what she can bring to the retailer – although it may be a little hasty to completely write off her capability as of yet.
“privilege and prosperity are factors which cannot be ignored”
Obviously Gemma’s privilege comes from a place she cannot control, hence she cannot be entirely dismissed on its basis. However, her privilege and prosperity are factors which cannot be ignored. They perhaps lie at the core of the reasoning behind this brand deal which might have prevented a less known, less privileged person from taking on this role and gaining a life-changing monetary boost.
Pretty Little Thing Twitter Poll
The issue with selecting Gemma Owen as Pretty Little Thing‘s new brand ambassador doesn’t lie solely with Gemma herself, but the company who employed her. Far more criticisms can be made regarding how they went about filling this role, implying that perhaps they are out of touch with their audience.
“the retailer overlooked their market research and disregarded the public’s opinion completely”
Throughout the airing of Love Island 2022, Pretty Little Thing consistently posted about the show on their social media platforms and even asked viewers to retweet the photograph of which islander they would like to see sign a deal with them. Despite Gemma receiving the lowest number of shares compared to her fellow islanders, it appears that the retailer overlooked their market research and disregarded the public’s opinion completely.
https://twitter.com/OfficialPLT/status/1552757399508885512
Indiyah Pollock’s photograph received the highest number of retweets, with other viewers claiming that Tasha Ghouri was the best dressed on the show and was more deserving of the position.
Perhaps by failing to select one of these islanders who appeared to be more popular with the public in terms of their fashion choices, Pretty Little Thing has denied themselves an opportunity to revolutionise the brand. The potential to launch new trends and keep audience engagement high could have been more achievable by hiring an islander with a clearer interest in fashion and unique style.
Furthermore, this could have been an opportunity for Pretty Little Thing to demonstrate their commitment to representation and diversity, instead of awarding a rich, white girl with the brand ambassador job.
Couple these aspects up with the contrast between the moral of sustainability on Love Island this year and Pretty Little Thing‘s foundations as a fast fashion retailer, was any former islander really the correct person for the brand to scout this time?
Featured image courtesy of freestocks via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes have been made to this image.
Emma McAndrew
Emma is one of the Deputy Editors here at Empoword Journalism and a final year journalism student at Edinburgh Napier University. When she isn't studying or editing articles, Emma enjoys keeping active at the gym, going on walks, journaling and reading books.