Sales surge at fashion brand I Saw It First worn by Love Island hopefuls and Molly-Mae Hague

Sales at I Saw It First, the Manchester-based online fashion brand worn by Love Island contestants and influences such as Molly-Mae Hague, have surged to record levels.

The company, which was set up by Jalal Kamani, the brother of Boohoo co-founder Mahmud Kamani, has reported sales of almost £75m for its latest financial year.

However, the business remains in the red, with its pre-tax losses totalling £7.7m.

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UK sales increased from £50.9m to £69.3m in the year but EU turnover fell from £5.7m to £4.5m and from £1m to £915,000 in the rest of the world.

I Saw It First became an official partner of hit ITV show Love Island in 2019 and, according to ITV, the deal helped it add a quarter of a million new customers. The brand says its customer base now stands at three million.

In May this year, Glasgow influencer Molly McFarlane was unveiled as the face behind a new bridal collection for the fashion label.

The brand is just one of the many online fashion labels based in Manchester such as Boohoo, PrettyLittleThing and Missguided.

The first two are under the control of the Kamani family while Missguided was recently rescued by the owner of Sports Direct after collapsing into administration.

In a statement outlining its performance, the directors of I Saw It First said: "The company's strategy is to make our great choice of quality clothing, footwear and homeware affordable to our core demographic of 30s and under, focusing on the high growth digital channels to market.

"We will continue to focus on our domestic markets which we think we can further penetrate, whilst continuing to establish the brand in UK speaking territories like