Molly-Mae Hague steps down from PrettyLittleThing role to focus on being a mum

Molly-Mae Hague, pictured this year, left the Love Island villa as a finalist in 2019

Love Island star Molly-Mae Hague has said she is stepping down from her role as creative director of fast fashion brand PrettyLittleThing after less than two years to focus on being a mum.

The influencer took on the reportedly big-money role in August 2021, before giving birth earlier this year.

She said while "everything is going incredibly" work-wise she wanted to commit fully to raising her daughter.

The 24-year-old will continue to work as a brand ambassador for the company.

Speaking on her YouTube channel, Hague - who met her partner, boxer Tommy Fury on the ITV2 dating show - said she would "forever have the most insane relationship" with her "family" at PrettyLittleThing (PLT).

"I am still working with them and doing collections and edits, but I have actually decided to step down as my creative director role," she said.

"Over the last few weeks, I have realised that I'm only going to get this time once with my first-born child and I'm only going to get Bambi being four months old once and I feel like I've had to rearrange my life a little bit and lose some commitments that I did have."

Belated maternity leave

She went to say she had "loved being the creative director of PLT more than anything", stressing that there had been "no drama" and "nothing [bad] has gone on". It was simply that this "amazing chapter" of her life had "naturally come to an end".

"I am a mum now and I never really gave myself a maternity leave and I got straight back into work instantly because my work is my phone and showing my life is my work," she continued.

"The last thing I would want to be is in a role that I can't fulfil right this moment."

Her departure comes two months after longstanding PrettyLittleThing founder Umar Kamani left the Boohoo Group brand, to pursue new opportunities.

In 2021, Hague announced she was taking a new direction by accepting a senior job with the label. "I'm excited to be a creative director - I'm not an influencer any more and people can see that, it's become a lot more than that," she told Radio 1 Newsbeat.

"I'm basically going to eat, sleep, breathe PrettyLittleThing - although I do that anyway".

Molly Mae leading models on the runway

It was a big and controversial signing at the time, with some commentators suggesting it was unfair she had walked from the Love Island villa into a hugely influential fashion job.

Hague argued she had worked hard and was passionate about the brand, one she had decided to work with despite having been offered more money to go elsewhere.

She said she had turned down an offer of £2 million to work with a high street brand, simply because she did not wear their clothes.

At the time she said she wanted to improve the inclusivity of the brand by creating clothes in sizes 4-30, as well as encouraging people to remove cosmetic fillers, if, like her, they had felt they'd made a mistake.

"I think for me it was a journey of accepting that you don't need to get all these things done to your face, you're fine the way you are," she said.

Hague was also criticised for her involvement with the company after PrettyLittleThing owner BooHoo was accused of paying garment workers in Leicester only £3.50 per hour following a 2020 investigation by The Sunday Times.

The following year, BooHoo said: "We recognise the risks of poor labour practices, human rights abuses and modern slavery in complex global supply chains and we are committed to establishing robust due diligence programmes and collaborating with others from the industry, authorities and NGOs to tackle poor practices and protect those people who are most vulnerable."

• Molly-Mae: 'I’m not just an influencer any more'

• Molly-Mae Hague has Instagram post banned again

Last year, Hague had an Instagram post banned after she failed to include any mention of it being an advert.

It was the third time she had been in trouble with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

She posted a picture of her wearing a PrettyLittleThing dress, along with a link to buy it, on her story.

The ASA said it was not "immediately clear" that she had a commercial interest in PLT. The brand confirmed their contract expressly stated the requirement for her to include the "£ad" disclosure in posts.