'I am guilty': Jersey influencer admits she is part-responsible for a rise in fast fashion

Katya Fowler reports...

A Jersey influencer has admitted she is part-responsible for a rise in fast fashion on the island and beyond.

Tallia Storm reaches millions of people on social media every day, and says she has been 'guilty' of promoting cheap, unsuitable fashion to make money in the past:

"I am a young girl, and my parents said if you want to live in London you're going to have to pay your own bills, so I did everything I could to get there.

"So I am guilty, but this is not a long-term plan for any of us and I think we all have to look ourselves in the mirror and be like 'ok, we've messed up but let's fix it', and you're never too late."

Tallia's mum Tessa owns a sustainable swimwear brand. Credit: ITV Channel

Tallia has committed to never working with fast fashion brands again in a bid to promote more sustainable brands.

In 2019, the amount of textiles Jersey threw away was the same weight as every Liberty Bus on the island combined, according to statistics from Climate Jersey.

Jersey Post is now handling a million more parcels annually than it did three years ago.

Of those parcels, 60% are from online fashion retailers.

Jersey Post have seen an increase in the number of parcels being sent since the pandemic. Credit: ITV Channel

Julie Thomas, Managing Director at Jersey Post, says: "We used to be a 60/40 business, where 60% of the traffic that came through was direct from Royal Mail and 40% from those big brands.

"It's completely flipped now so 60% of the packets and parcels that come through now are from those brands.

"We must gear up more towards a parcel business than a traditional letters business."

Young people in Jersey are choosing to buy from cheap, fast fashion brands rather than shopping more sustainably on-island.

One young person says: "I mainly shop online or when I go on holiday because Jersey is a bit rubbish for shopping."

Another says the cost of shopping in Jersey forces her to shop online: "I wouldn't want to waste my money on something I wouldn't wear all the time."

It was one of the biggest news stories of our time - and it's still not over. So what did Boris Johnson know about Downing Street’s notorious parties? With fresh revelations from our Number 10 sources, in their own words, listen to the inside story...