Love Island star Molly-Mae Hague has announced that, after less than two years, she will be leaving her position as creative director of fast fashion company PrettyLittleThing in order to devote more time to being a mother.
The influencer started the allegedly lucrative job in August 2021 before giving birth earlier this year.
While "everything is going incredibly" at work, she claimed, she wanted to devote her entire attention to raising her daughter.
The 24-year-old will continue to serve as a company brand ambassador.
Hague said on her YouTube channel that she would "forever have the most insane relationship" with her "family" at PrettyLittleThing (PLT), where she met her partner, boxer Tommy Fury, on the ITV2 dating show.
Although I am still doing collections and edits with them, she said, "I have actually decided to step down as my creative director role.".
"Over the past few weeks, I've come to the realization that I'll only get this time with my firstborn child and this stage of Bambi's life once. As a result, I feel like I've had to rearrange my life a little bit and let go of some commitments I did have. ".
She continued by stating that she had "loved being the creative director of PLT more than anything" and reiterating that "no drama" and "nothing [bad] has gone on.". Simply put, she had "naturally come to an end" this "amazing chapter" of her life.
As a mother now, she said, "I never really gave myself a maternity leave and I returned to work immediately because my work is on my phone and showing my life is my work.".
"Being in a role that I can't currently fulfill is the last thing I would want to do. ".
Her departure comes two months after the Boohoo Group brand was left by the long-time founder of PrettyLittleThing, Umar Kamani, in order to pursue new opportunities.
Hague declared in 2021 that she was changing course and had accepted a senior position with the label. People can see that I'm no longer an influencer, and I'm thrilled to be a creative director, she told Radio 1 Newsbeat.
Although I already do that, I'm basically going to live off of Pretty Little Thing.
It was a significant and contentious signing at the time, with some commentators arguing that it was unfair that she had walked straight out of the Love Island villa and into a position with enormous fashion clout.
Hague argued that despite being offered more money to work elsewhere, she had chosen to stay with the company because she was passionate about the brand and had worked hard to build it.
Simply because she did not wear their clothing, she claimed she had declined a £2 million offer to work with a high street brand.
In addition to encouraging people to get rid of cosmetic fillers if they felt they had made a mistake like she had, she stated at the time that she wanted to increase the inclusivity of the brand by designing clothes in sizes 4 to 30.
"I think it was a journey for me to accept that you don't need to get all these things done to your face, you're fine the way you are," she said.
Following a 2020 investigation by The Sunday Times, PrettyLittleThing owner BooHoo was accused of paying garment workers in Leicester only £3.50 per hour. Hague was also criticized for her involvement with the business.
The following year, BooHoo stated: "We recognise the risks of poor labor 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 who are most vulnerable. ".
Hague had an Instagram post from last year deleted because there was no mention of it being an advertisement.
She had already run into trouble with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) twice before.
On her story, she shared a photo of herself wearing a Pretty Little Thing (PLT) dress along with a link to purchase it.
According to the ASA, it was not "immediately clear" that she had a financial stake in PLT. The company acknowledged that their contract required her to include a "£ad" disclosure in all of her posts.
