Why Love Island is 100% our type on paper

If you had asked me, two months ago, to watch Love Island, I probably would have questioned whether you knew me at all, but now here I am, almost a week after the final, still tagging my friends in those hilarious polar bear Chris memes. Some 3 million viewers watched Kem and Amber being crowned the ultimate couple on Monday night’s finale alone and most of us have no shame in turning down plans to instead turn on the TV at 9pm, but what exactly made the hit series, that even Stormzy loves, so addictive?

One of the main things that play into the nation’s addiction for the show is simply the fact that we’re so incredibly nosy. It almost becomes a thrill to watch others in their most personal and embarrassing moments and this way, with all the cameras, there’s no one to tell us were being absolute gossip queens.

‘On paper’ (prepare for a lot of puns in this one), all the contestants are doing is tanning out on sun loungers in one of the most stunning villas in the Balearic Islands whilst being treated to luxury dates.  What could be easier than that? However, being enclosed in the same provinces with the same people and little to no contact with the outside world can definitely lead to a build-up of strong emotions in such an intense atmosphere. As we saw with Camilla’s journey, in particular, the format of the show forced contestants to tackle their emotions and issues head on with nowhere to escape and this definitely pulled on our heart strings as viewers. A large majority of the audience were made up of teens ranging from 15-18 years and I believe part of the reason for this demographic was due to the mirroring between the villa life and school life. By being shown how contestants faced up to their dramas in a very restricted environment the way we, as students, sometimes are in the confines of our classrooms and common rooms, it’s very clear that teens across the country were able to relate to the various issues surrounding the villa, whether it be Gabby’s confidence knock or shocking amount of drama unearthed in those challenges. The cliques formed, the screaming matches, and even the secret text conversations all added up to form some sort of high school environment, barring the sex and smoking of course.

Along with relating to the situations that the islanders found themselves in, viewers often subconsciously identified with one or more of the contestants. By doing this it allows us to become all the more excited for the highs, such as Montana finally being attracted to someone, as well as causing us to be particularly angry when someone ‘pies off’ our favourite islander. This all draws us further into the show and leaves us wondering what we would have done if we were in their shoes. Not only are we relating to them, we’re also comparing ourselves to them. We get the chance to measure ourselves against the islanders thinking, “I’d never say that about someone on camera”, “I’m glad my boyfriend doesn’t act like that”, or even “I could do a much better rap than that Chris and Kem”. From all of this alone, it’s fair to say that Love Island stimulates far more topics than love alone.

And finally, perhaps my most favourite part of the show, the islanders of 2017 have gone a step further in including their viewers and truly giving us the Love Island experience with their incredibly amusing vocabulary. Like the rest of us, I’ve made countless jokes about someone being totally “muggy” or having someone’s “eggs in my basket” over the last seven weeks. Not only does this allow us to incorporate the Majorca villa lifestyle into our own, it displays a certain type of togetherness between the contestants. They have quickly developed a shared language, accepted by all, indicating a degree of likeness in their thinking and making them all the more lovable for it. I don’t know about you, but I've fallen for Love Island and I’m certainly going to miss hearing the islanders shout “I’ve got a text” across the garden.

So don’t be a ‘melt’ and go catch up on Love Island. You won’t be disappointed.

Thank you for reading!
Aman

(Thanks Niku for the very creative title)

Is it time to stop fighting against millennials in fashion?

Source: Models.com

They’ve been dubbed as ‘instamodels’, ‘family feeders’ and, perhaps most strongly, ‘undeserving’. The models dominating our magazine covers and billboards all share one big attribute: Instagram. They have been attacked in recent years for their ways of attaining fame but is it time to accept this as a shift in the ever changing media industry?

Nearly every development in Kendall Jenner’s modelling career has been welcomed with backlash and controversy, accusing her of “nepotism at its finest” and simply “being famous for being famous”, but perhaps, along with Gigi and Bella Hadid, she happened to be in the right place at the right time. At a time where social media, particularly Instagram, has been adopted as the ultimate tool for marketing, it can be hard to ignore just how influential those ‘insta famous’ accounts are. Modelling agencies are moving on from the traditional scouting in the streets technique and are instead scrolling the ‘gram for potential new faces. It’s clear that in this day and age your number of followers are more important than how well you photograph but this doesn’t have to be all bad.

The digital age has allowed us to step away from traditional standards, especially when it comes to the fashion world. Models are no longer restricted to their accounts and are now stepping out onto real runways. I for one believe this is just another way in which technology is adapting parts of our society. Though it can be implied that this change means many models are ‘getting it easy’, surely it can be argued that fashion is all about change. Runways have never stayed the same. Trends have never stayed the same. So why should our models be restricted to the same criteria?

Something that comes to mind when discussing nepotism and Hollywood families is the ‘Dolce and Gabbana Fall/Winter 2017-18 Show’. It immediately received criticisms for its star studded line up with singers, bloggers and a string of second generation celebrities including: Sofia Richie, Madison Beer and Dylan Lee. D&G, however, made sure it was obvious that their theme focused on the idea of famous millennials and family by casting Steve Harvey’s son and daughter-in-law as well as their own two children.

But what people don’t realise is that D&G got what they wanted, they got everyone talking about their show. The more criticism they received, the more recognition came with it. Plus, the show was centred around family and truly represented uniqueness in both its style and model choice. Take Starlie Smith for example, she is not a usual face in the fashion industry and its obvious that her sibling relations to model phenomenon Lucky Blue had played a significant part in earning her that role in the show, but she brought variety to the runway. Her 5’5 petite shape brought something different to the show and by strategically placing her alongside her two towering sisters D&G were able to embrace the differences that the new generation of social media models have by using those that represent all types of bodies not just the bodies we are used to seeing. 

Not only did the family theme bring diversity to the runway but it demonstrated just how this generation of models are bringing in new customers. Fashion and couture are no longer aimed exclusively at the middle aged rich list, it is also becoming accessible to younger people. Sure, most 17 year olds can’t afford a Burberry coat but more and more teenagers and young people are following the fashion movement. Girls who once looked up to the Jenner sisters are now finding interests beyond the magazine pages and the fashion world has opened up to everyone. The fan bases that these models create provide yet another unique factor contributing to the fashion universe. Upon seeing their role models display different trends, more young people and fashion enthusiasts will put their own spin on the style.

Being able to see these trends influenced by top designers and portrayed by their favourite models in real time can only be described as incredible and empowering and in terms of the fashion industry, media and millennials are critical to its progression.

Thank you for reading!

Aman