Yasmin Pettet Polyester interview 2026 — Make it stand out

When she appeared on the twelfth season of *Love Island* in the UK, Yasmin Pettet quickly became beloved precisely because she was everything you might not expect from a contestant on the show. London-born Pettet had a penchant for techno music and fetish-adjacent fashion - and when she became friends with fellow villa outcasts Toni Laites and Shakira Khan, they formed a formidable trio who breathed fun, relatable life into standard Love Island perfectionism.
Since emerging from the villa, Yasmin has embraced her love of fashion, and has worked extensively with offbeat British designers like 1XBlue and Chopova Lowena, favouring them over the brands that contestants on the show usually make their first influencer deals with. She has also collaborated with others in the fashion space to create unexpected work - including this editorial, exclusive to Polyester. See below to view the full shoot, and to read an interview with Yasmin about life after Love Island, her favourite designers, and her plans for global domination as a DJ.

Hey Yasmin! First of all, tell us about this shoot - what did you love about it?

Well, it was really fun to work on because the theme of the shoot was this haunting broken doll sort vibe. And I loved it because it was very, very female gaze - it was very quirky, very dark, very editorial, and I love doing stuff like that because I feel like I thrive there. I'm a bit of a chameleon in that sense, I love looking weird and wonderful.

Obviously everyone loves the glam, but being like, “Oh, I look weird, but I also think I look cool when I look like this” is also great. Do you know what I mean?

Exactly, exactly. And it was the opposite end of the spectrum from being glam, because don't get me wrong, I love being glam, but I love when you immerse yourself in a role, it’s so much fun.

What is it about like working with other people who share your vision that is fun and exciting to you?

I get to meet so many insanely talented individuals. I'm a very, very spiritual, woo woo person and when you collaborate with females like that, you can all just feed off each other's energy. Someone will think, “Oh no, actually position yourself this way,” or “let's shoot in this background,” and all that sort of stuff. And then it comes together and you get the coolest shots ever. And it's stuff that you would never even think to do or you would never see yourself wearing. But then it's like, “wow.” It's so cool.

I’d love to ask you about Love Island just because as a former Islander, you really stand out - I'm sure on purpose, you didn't want to take the traditional sort of route that tends to follow the show. So I just wondered, to start, why did you want to do the show?

I wanted to do the show because I knew that I didn't fit that role. I knew I wasn't the stereotypical person that you see on the show. I feel like we need more weird girl representation. Like, so many people could see themselves in me. And I kind of went into it thinking, “Okay, like, I know I'm a bit weird, quirky and different, but I know I'm going to be authentic and choose myself and I know I'm gonna attract an audience that will resonate with me.” And thank God I didn't because it paid off.

But I think even with going on Love Island, it’s such a big TV show and you have so many eyes on you. And I kind of went into it thinking, like even before the show, I knew I always wanted to delve into the high fashion world and I’m super creative, but before the show, I worked in banking, so I just didn't have any outlet. So Love Island just sort of opened so many different doors for me. And again, I was just like, “Right, I know I want to break into this.” And that's obviously like why I ended up signing with Storm. I had so many meetings with like talent agents when I came out and I said to them that I didn't want to work with fast fashion. I wanted to do a bit more of a creative, edgy, quirky sort of route. And then obviously like when I did my i-D shoot, Storm came about, and that's exactly what I wanted because they are sort of the agency that take on the outsiders, if that makes sense. So that’s why I did the show. Also, I love being in the limelight. I adore attention. I love it. I love it.

Did you find the show challenging because you didn't fit that stereotype?

100%. I think when I was in there, I did find it really challenging. But again, I know I'm very self-assured and self-aware. I know myself as a person. So I kind of had a feeling that that would sort of be the way even before I stepped foot into the villa, but at the same time, I just thought “I have to go in there and be authentic and true to myself because then I know I'm going to attract people that see themselves in me.” And I'm glad I did. I'm glad I didn't try and sort of act like anyone else just to fit in.

But then again, I felt like an outsider for a very, very long time in there. That's obviously where I struck up my friendship with Toni and Shakira because they were the ones who kind of accepted me and they saw me for all my weirdness and quirks, but they still loved me for it anyways. And that's how we became friends and that's obviously where the name ‘The Outcasts’ came from. We were such outcasts, we really were. It was us against the world.

I feel like Love Island's been going on for such a long time now, and - in as nice a way as possible - there's so much like copy and paste going on. And I just feel like there's so many times I see people and I'm like, “But it's been done before.” Do you know what I mean? It's like, “Why be boring when you can be unique and different and break out of that mould?”

I’ve heard from various people that you guys really showed casting like a thing or two to be honest. And I'm so interested to see what happens this summer based on that. It will be really, really, really interesting. But ultimately, what were you hoping to get out of it? Obviously people go on it for their careers - but it's also a bonus to meet someone, and a bonus to move from a job that you were doing before to something that you might have dreamed of doing. So what were your motivations?

To be honest, I just always wanted to buy myself an Hermes Birkin. And ITV were like, “What will you do with the 25K if you win?” And I was like, “I'll buy myself a Birkin.” But I think even before Love Island, again, I just knew I was creative and I wanted to have some sort of outlet for it. And I’ve always loved the high fashion world. And I always love everything weird, dark, edgy, quirky. So I think coming out of Love Island, I just wanted more opportunities to kind delve into that, which was nice because again, I just felt like if I went in there trying to be someone I'm not, then I'm not going to get what I want out of it.

So since you came out of the show, obviously your life has been very different and I wonder what it's been like? How have you found adjusting? The show breeds social media stars who don't necessarily always want to talk about the good and bad of it, right? It's always about a bit of a sheen. But I can imagine it's really disorienting and weird as much as it's amazing too.

Yeah, I mean like my whole life has obviously done a complete 180, it's literally been flipped on its head, but for me, it's kind of been for the better. Because I'm quite a thick skinned person - and don't get me wrong, it’s not always like sunshine and rainbows being in the public eye, because you just feel sometimes you are under a bit of a microscope and like that can sometimes be really daunting. But at the same time, I'll be so honest, I love having an audience and I love having people that kind of see me for me and understand me. But I feel like off the back of the show, obviously I've had so many cool opportunities and things that have happened to me that like I literally just sit here and I have a pinch me moment literally every day where I sit here and I'm like, “I'm literally living the life that I dreamed of when I was 16.” 16 year old me, would think I'm so cool now and I have such a cool life. There's been so much stuff that - and it's even stuff that I talked about when I was in the villa. Like, when I was in the villa, people would say, oh, like, “What's your North Star,” sort of thing? I met Charli XCX on my birthday, right? And I told her this story as well, how the whole time when I was in the villa, I literally always used to be like, “I'm only here because I want Charli XCX and Julia Fox to know who I am.” Mission succeeded.

So much stuff has happened - like going to the BFAs. So last year with the BFAs, obviously like I worked in banking at the time and I really wanted to go to the BFAs, it's actually really embarrassing and I've never told the story to anyone else. I was actually going to take this to the grave, but like, because I went to the BFAs this year, now I'm going to tell the story.

Last year, I wanted to go to the BFAs so badly because again, I love fashion, but obviously I worked in banking. I did not work in the high fashion world. And I was looking at the tickets on the website and I couldn't get tickets. So in my head, because I was like a bit delusional, I was like, “Maybe if I go to the Royal Albert Hall, I can just find someone selling tickets.” And like I was literally waiting outside for ages, like I was asking everyone. It was me and my friend, and we didn't end up getting tickets, but like, “It's okay because it just wasn't meant to be that year.” Literally one year later, I was literally on the carpet.

I know that you have such a love of fashion and since you've been in the public eye, you have showcased so many emerging designers on carpets or at events, and I wonder who are your favourite designers to wear and work with, and what are your hopes for working in the space going forward?

It’s so hard to keep the list small because there's so many cool designers that I love working with. I shot a campaign with 1XBlue that I was obsessed with, like, I think Lois [Saunders] is insane. Obviously Sinead Gorey, Marc Jacobs, Conner Ives. I sat front row at Conner Ives and Chopova Lowena when it was Fashion Week - again, they’re just the most creatively talented characters ever.

Obviously with fashion, it is such a long game. One thing I've learned is instant gratification just isn't the thing. But I think that I would like to get to a point in my career where I can work with some of like the bigger fashion houses as well, like I would literally dream to be walking the Diesel runway or being like front row at Versace or Miu Miu, because again, it's just like what I've always loved to do. And I'm the type of person who is like, “I do not care, whatever it takes. If you have to put me in 10 inch stilettos to be on that runway, I will do it. If it was a walking stilt, I will do it.”

There are so many areas actually that I do want to go into because, again, I feel like I'm such a multifaceted person. I'm the type of person who can't just stick to one thing and play with it. I have so many different outlets that I want to go down. I obviously want to do more editorial shoots, because I just love expressing myself in that way. I love when you work with a team and you come up with these creative ideas and you're just sort of transforming into a character and I love doing stuff like that. I wouldn't walk down the street looking like that because it's not Yasmin, but it's just like a whole different entity and I love that.

And then there's also stuff like, at the moment, and - I don't think I’ve said this publicly - but I am learning to DJ. I live and breathe music and my DMs are constantly flooded with like people wanting music recommendations because they love my music taste. I kind of want to figure out what my sound is going to be, so I can blend different genres. You know me, I'm literally so for the girls and the gays. I'm playing the long game as well with that - I want to perfect my craft before I publicly do that sort of stuff because I love music, I've literally grown up with it, like I want to immerse myself in the culture and have that appreciation rather than just being seen as, “Oh the influencer,” that sort of thing. Because there’s a lot of stigma in that industry, especially when it comes to like female DJs. But I can't wait till that takes off. I would love to tour internationally. That would be the end goal - and over time, I'd love to produce my own music as well.

And then like, I think with TV and stuff, obviously, that is where I came from and again, I think it's something that I'm good at and I enjoy. I will always have a soft spot for any sort of TV work, like presenting and stuff like that. And then - I've had this in my manifestation journal for a while and it will happen: I want to be in a Ryan Murphy production. I don't mind even if it's not American Horror Story. I really don't mind, but like, all of my followers say it to me.

My last question is, in the next year or so or for the rest of this year, have you got anything fun planned, or coming up? Like what are you hoping to do in the short term?

In the short term, I love the brands that I work with now. I love the more niche ones, like Vyrao. I just did some work with them and I literally love their perfumes. I'm like a witchy woo girl. And I would love to do more editorial shoots as well. Because again, that's literally like the best thing ever. The dream. I just get to show up and perform on camera. That's where I'm in my element.

Thanks Yasmin!

Yasmin Pettet on Fashion, Ryan Murphy, and Being the Weird Girl on ‘Love Island’

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