Old Navy Made Clothing Sizes for Everyone. It Backfired.
The clothing brand’s push for inclusivity left it with a shortage of middle sizes. ‘It’s super-frustrating.’
Old Navy set out to make clothes shopping more inclusive for women of all body types. It ended up with too many extra-small and extra-large items and too few of the rest, a mismatch that frustrated customers and contributed to falling sales and a management shake-up.
The stumbles at Old Navy are a problem for its parent, Gap Inc.
The chain accounts for the majority of the company’s sales and profits and helps prop up the weaker Gap and Banana Republic brands. It also shows the challenges of producing a wide range of sizes that have led some brands to stop carrying plus-sizes.
A Gap Inc. spokeswoman declined to comment.
The company will report its latest quarterly results on May 26. Analysts expect the company to report net sales of $3.44 billion, down from the $3.99 billion it reported in the same period last year.
Billed as one of the biggest launches in the brand’s history, Old Navy in August began offering all women’s clothing styles in size 0 to 30 and XS to 4X, making it one of the first retailers to place such a big bet on inclusive sizing.
It did away with separate petite and plus-size departments and grouped all sizes of each style together. Mannequins in varying body shapes displayed the new wares. All sizes of a style were priced the same, a break with an industry practice in which retailers charge more for larger sizes.
“This is the largest integrated launch in the brand’s history and an important growth driver for the business for years to come,” Gap chief executive Sonia Syngal told analysts in August.
Soon after, however, Old Navy’s sales started to nosedive. Last month, Nancy Green, the chain’s president and chief executive, stepped down after less than two years running the brand.
Gap warned that sales for the spring quarter would fall short of expectations in part due to troubles at Old Navy.
The extended sizes were the culprit, according to current and former employees.
Stores were selling out of the middle sizes and were stuck with piles of very small and very large sizes, the employees said.
To clear out the excess goods, Old Navy put a large quantity of women’s clothes on sale this spring. The move contrasts with other retailers that have held the line on discounting because of strong demand and supply-chain challenges that have kept some items in short supply.
At an Old Navy store in Queens, N.Y., racks of women’s clothes were recently selling for 50% off. Some women’s dresses were available in only XS and XXL. High-waisted canvas pants were sold out in sizes 4 through 10, but available in size 2 and in 12 to 28.
Shoppers said Old Navy’s message of inclusivity resonates with them. But it is sometimes outweighed by the frustration of not being able to find their size.
“I’m not necessarily the slimmest,” said Sydney Bassard, of Charlotte, N.C. “Sometimes it’s hard to find clothes that aren’t tight.”
Nonetheless, the 26-year-old speech pathologist said that since Old Navy introduced the wider range of products, she has had a hard time finding her size, which is among those that have been in short supply since the expansion.
“I have to look through a lot of sizes and then my size isn’t available,” she said.
Retailers from Victoria’s Secret & Co. to Target Corp. have embraced size inclusivity by adding more styles in small and large sizes to win over new customers and promote more positive body imagery.
Few chains have gone as far as Old Navy. “It was a big step for the industry,” said Liza Amlani, the founder of consulting firm Retail Strategy Group. “Old Navy really invested in equality around sizing, not just in the product but from the way the stores were laid out.”
Most retailers sell clothes in sizes that range from 0 to 14. Adding additional sizes comes with extra costs from developing new patterns to buying extra material, Ms. Amlani said.
Retailers tend to buy more of a given item in midrange sizes and fewer in very small or very large sizes. But they are often still short of the most popular sizes, while ending up with too many of the sizes that are less in demand. Offering a wider range of sizes can magnify that problem, she said.
The average American woman is a size 18 today, up from a size 14 five years ago, according to Don Howard, executive director of Alvanon, which works with brands and retailers on sizing and fit.
The mean weight for women aged 20 and over was 170.8 pounds as of 2016, according to the most recent data from the National Center for Health Statistics. That is up from 163.6 pounds in 2000.
Old Navy relied on the NCHS data when it developed its new sizing and conducted its own research. It interviewed hundreds of women about their body image, scanned the bodies of 389 women to create digital avatars and built new fit blocks for sizes 20 through 28.
Because the proportions change as sizes get larger, it had to review the pocket placements, waistband pitches and dress lengths to ensure the clothes fit across all sizes.
The launch was complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced some factories to close and created shipping delays that made it harder to get products to stores in a timely manner, some of the former employees said.
Old Navy’s same-store sales fell 9% in the third quarter of last year and 6% in the fourth quarter, compared with the same periods in 2020.
The declines followed big gains in early 2021 and most of 2020. Compared with 2019, Old Navy’s sales were unchanged in the fourth quarter of 2021. The figures exclude newly opened or closed stores.
Paul Lejuez, a Citi analyst, said the expanded sizes aren’t bringing in enough new customers or getting existing customers to buy more.
“If some of those sizes don’t sell, it doesn’t make sense to use up the floor space,” he said.
Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg said this past Wednesday that her namesake company wants to cater to as many people as possible but that producing a wide range of sizes is expensive.
“If you are a size 2 and if you are a size 16, you do not use the same amount of fabric,” she said at The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival. “You also don’t want to penalize the small people [who would be] paying more because the price has to be the same. It may be very controversial to bring that up. But I think it’s important.”
Nicole Cueto said she has been shopping elsewhere for activewear and jeans, because it has been hard to find her size at Old Navy in the past few months.
“They mostly just have larger sizes and sell out of the small sizes,” said the 39-year-old publicist, who lives in Manhattan. “It is super-frustrating.”
Ms. Syngal told analysts in November that Old Navy more than doubled the number of extended-size customers in its database since the launch and that 15% of customers who shopped for extended sizes are new to the brand.
She said Old Navy, which makes many of its products in Vietnam, where factories were shut for an extended period due to the pandemic, had been hurt by inventory shortages that persisted into the fourth quarter.
In March, Ms. Syngal said the brand suffered from not having enough fashionable dresses and tops, as consumers shifted to buying more of those items.
Old Navy’s stumbles don’t bode well for Gap Inc. In 2021, Old Navy accounted for 54% of the company’s sales and roughly 80% of profits, according to Mr. Lejuez.
In 2019, Gap announced plans to separate Old Navy from the rest of the company. It scrapped the idea a year later, saying it would have been too costly and complicated.
Ms. Syngal, the former leader of Old Navy, took over as Gap Inc.’s CEO in early 2020.
Gap spent about $300 million on separation costs before deciding a split wouldn’t be feasible, according to company filings.
The company’s systems are too interwoven, according to a person familiar with the situation. For instance, all the brands use the same mainframe-computer inventory system, rather than a more modern modular system that would allow for changes more easily.
Separating Old Navy would have been like cutting a bicycle in half, this person said.
“Because of the time spent analyzing the split, Gap fell behind on other initiatives that have become crucial to retailing, such as product recommendations and personalization. Then, the focus shifted to inclusivity, further distracting the company from implementing new technologies.’’
To commemorate its 10th anniversary, the Museum of Contemporary Art (Moca Bangkok) is displaying “Future Shapes: Doodle Art Exhibition”, which showcases the works of 13 young artists.
Kit Bencharongkul, the museum’s director, said that last April the museum exhibited paintings by Anand Panin. The artworks on display belong to Boonchai Bencharongkul, the museum’s founder, who has collected Anand’s works for over 30 years.
“Future Shapes: Doodle Art Exhibition” presents works created by young artists.
“Doodle art is a continuous aimless drawing that children often do on paper. It is an art form that does not require serious analytic thinking; it is a result of whatever comes to the artists’ minds.
Doodle art is naïve and straightforward. Since doodle art can be created by one pen and one piece of paper, people who are not artists can create doodle art as well. Young artists start from doodling before working on other kinds of art. Doodling is a fundamental basic of art,” Kit said.
“Future shapes refers to future art and patterns, as well as the future of new generations who will be our representatives,” Kit added.
The 13 artists, aged from five to 17, who were selected for the exhibition were scouted by Moca Bangkok’s crew through social media.
“We searched for captivating works that were appreciated by the public. We also considered the artists’ diligence and determination. We watched how often they posted their work and their passion for doodling.
The theme ‘Future Shapes’ is an open theme that allows young artists to express how they view the future. These young artists came up with several ideas. Many of their pieces are related to the environment. This means the new generation is interested in something beyond themselves,” said Kit.
Among the 13 artists, two teenagers — Nattapol “Kamo” Komalarajun and Wuttipat “Patart” Wongdee — are part of the exhibition highlights. While Nattapol was the inspiration behind this exhibition, Wuttipat caught the eye of the Moca Bangkok crew due to his storytelling through art.
“I have seen Nattapol’s works for several years. His works are easy to understand and he is able to adapt his doodling into exhibition concepts. Outside In is the largest work that he ever created. Our crew discovered Wuttipat while they were searching for teenage artists. Wuttipat’s works are intriguing. He also works on NFT art, which fits into the new art world. He can doodle very quickly, so we gave him a large space from the floor to the ceiling,” said Kit.
Nattapol, 17, is an award-winning artist who won his first national award at the age of nine. With solid support from his parents along with his hard work and talent, Nattapol was commissioned to illustrate many projects for national and international brands such as book covers, package designs, animations and mural paintings.
Nattapol said he was thrilled to be selected to be a part of ‘Future Shapes,’ where he will display the 50m² Outside In.
“Moca Bangkok is a large gallery where I was inspired by artworks. I felt that it would be awesome to display my work at this gallery. The exhibition is unusual; I had never seen other galleries organise doodle art by young artists before,” said Nattapol.
Born and raised in Khon Kaen, Wuttipat, 16, started working on doodle art last September. Due to his determination and creativity, his art caught the eye of the Moca Bangkok.
“I used to be addicted to games, but I wanted to change myself. I promised myself that I would draw at least one piece a day. I worked hard and the outcome was excellent,” said Wuttipat.
Nattapol said his inspiration for his art pieces comes from his imagination. He wanted to see an installation that he could walk through, so he created Outside In, which resembles a house.
“Since the installation is called Outside In, the outer part of the installation portrays events that happen inside a house. In the midst of the pandemic, everyone spent time in their houses and learned what was happening in the outside world through their mobile phones. The images on the outside include rooms in a house such as a bathroom, a living room and a bedroom as well as family members. However, when viewers walk through the installation, they will see what people see on mobile phones such as a forest, a city and a spaceship. It is a reflection of modern life,” Nattapol explained.
Wuttipat called his project Doodle Land, which is set 3,000 years in the future. The young artist used a space of 5m from floor to the ceiling to create the illustration New World War between the world we live in and a parallel world.
“In the future, there will be a parallel world that has higher technology than our world. However, the parallel world does not have nature or green spaces, so they invade our world. At ‘Future Shapes’, I showcase several pieces. Other illustrations depict five kings of five tribes who will try to protect our world,” Wuttipat explained.
While the parents are proud of their children’s artistic talents, they often worry about them pursuing it as a career. However, Wuttipat’s father, Narongrit Wongdee, said he was happy to encourage Wuttipat to study art because it helped his son overcome an addiction to gaming.
“He has always loved drawing. He still plays games for fun. I am not worried that he will struggle as an artist because there are many new careers, including NFTs. Wuttipat is happy to work on art and he can make money from NFT art,” the father said.
Nattapol said he has felt complete since he finished his work and hopes to have people see it. Wuttipat said the exhibition helps people in his community in Khon Kaen to understand more about art.
“I used to be criticised by many people who felt I didn’t pay enough attention to my studies. After my art pieces were exhibited and sold, they accepted me more,” said Wuttipat.
The director of Moca Bangkok said he hopes parents will bring their children to the exhibition.
“‘Future Shapes’ aims to attract viewers of different ages. Visitors were amazed to see the work of a five-year-old who can draw fantastically. I hope families will be inspired by the exhibition, maybe even to create their own art,” Kit said.