In recent years, a movement within the fashion industry has made big brands like Old Navy seek to adapt to the vision of consumers, who increasingly demand social awareness and inclusion.
That is why, as a way to continue attracting consumers, the American retailer decided to expand its sizes to make anyone who wants to wear the brand, breaking down one of the barriers that still struggle within the dress industry.
Old Navy in action
The retail store will offer in its next releases sizes 0 to 20 and XS to 4X within all its feminine products in store and would even reach size 30 within online purchases.
In addition, as part of the breaking down of barriers, the “plus size” category will disappear to merge within women’s clothing in general, being a single destination for all clothing within the brand site owned by Gap Inc.
In the case of retail, the 1,200 Old Navy stores will also have a restructuring so that clothes stop being separated in a separate area, and new mannequins with different sizes such as 4, 12 and 18 will be placed.
For their part, employees received training on how to talk to clients about body positivity and inclusion.
It is worth mentioning that the brand has offered plus-size garments since 2004, but it was until 2018 that it debuted with stores dedicated to large sizes -barely 75-, so it is clear that now it seeks to make the effort much greater.
“When we started to understand the opportunity here, we realized a few years ago that we weren’t doing enough to really think about including size and how demographics are changing in the US,” said the CEO of Old Navy, Nancy Green, in an interview with CNBC.
“I have family members who wear large sizes and I can’t shop with them,” Green added. “And shopping is social. It is something that people want to do together ”.
Inclusion has a wide market
Figures from Coresight Research estimate that the value of the women’s plus size market in the US will increase to 32.3 billion in 2021, representing about 20.7 percent of the entire women’s clothing market.
With this in mind, it is clear that more and more brands are betting on squeezing the category, in an act of inclusion, but also as a market strategy with profitable profits.
However, Green told CNBC that adapting to this trend is not easy, because “it requires a lot of experience and knowledge, and it requires a lot of investment to be able to do it well.”
It is vital that brands know their main consumer to be able to work based on it, since each company has a different market, however, there is also a commitment to seek to approach a new market.
Today, consumers want clothing to be a reflection of their identity, personalized, but at the same time that everyone has the same options to choose their garments, with the same designs that are presented for people who do not require an extended size .
A spokesperson told CNBC that Old Navy searches for “plus” clothing are up 63 percent year-over-year, while the term is only one of the 100 most searched on the site.
At a time when Old Navy and other brands such as Athleta are key to boosting Gap’s business, it is clear that the change of direction could be the strategy for the ‘rebirth’ of these clothing retailers affected by social changes and the coronavirus pandemic.
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