As Seen On Love Islanders, Julia Fox And Dua Lipa, This Brand Is Your Short Cut To A Hot Girl Summer

It didn’t take long for the ladies of this year’s Love Island to ditch their knickers. No, no, not for that (minds out of the gutter!). Rather they have been tempted to go commando for a far more tantalising prospect than any of the current crop of animated Ken dolls: scorchio dresses.

Eeeny-weeny second-skin outfits are nothing new in the Villa. But this year’s are supercharged with strategic cut-outs, requiring the brave wearer to forego bras (definitely), knickers (probably), or both (very, very likely). Hey, sometimes a high hem or bodycon silhouette is not enough; sometimes you want to flirt with Ofcom limits.

The brand to wear around the fire pit this season is Poster Girl. See Amber Beckford in a lilac sliver of a dress and Indiyah Polack in a miniscule baby blue number, both of them with those gravity defying, dare-to-bare cut outs. (Let’s diplomatically, perhaps too-generously, say that a few of the other dresses the islanders packed looks that are remarkably Poster Girl inspired).

Founded by Central St. Martin’s graduates Francesca Capper and Natasha Somerville, Poster Girl’s one-size-fits-all dresses and tees have already been worn by Dua Lipa and Kylie Jenner. Instagram is well and truly conquered ground for the brand.

What marks it out from typical Love Island brands of seasons past is its legitimate fashion credentials. The founders studied at Central St. Martin’s, it’s stocked by luxury retailers like Browns and SSENSE, and this February, it made its London Fashion Week catwalk debut (one the fashion press actually went to. You can’t say that about Molly Mae Hague’s PLT show). A runway brand + Love Island? Surely the shock coupling of the 2022 season so far.

But, of course, with its championing of pre-loved clothes via an eBay partnership, this isn’t a typical Love Island. What stylist Amy Bannerman has so smartly done is tune into the current fashion zeitgeist (super confident, swaggeringly sexy, seriously fun) and interpreted it into a Love Island-friendly language that doesn’t compromise the more conscious values.

‘Cut-out bodycon dresses are quickly becoming the look of the series, as the girls embrace major Y2K vibes,’ says Amy of their appeal. ‘As Poster Girl dresses are available in one size fits all, everyone can wow in them. And the bright colour palette will certainly help ensure you’re in someone’s top three’.

Amber’s was sourced on eBay but if your grafting on the pre-loved platform has so far proved fruitless, you’re in luck. Alongside Poster Girl (where prices come in at around £140 for a dress – some even less than that), there’s a host of fashion-insider approved brands doing cool-girl spins worth shedding your smalls for, like Marcia, Stefania Vaidani, Nensi Dojaka and Louisa Ballou.

‘When I met some of the Islanders before the show, they were so excited by the opportunity to wear designer dresses, made affordable by sourcing them as pre-loved through eBay,’ says Amy, teasing might lay ahead. ‘So while I think we’ll see a lot more Poster Girl this series, I think we can also expect the girls to be dazzling in other major designer pre-loved looks in the weeks to come.’ Consider it essential viewing for your Hot Girl Summer – who needs knickers anyway?