Old Navy overhauls plus-size women’s fashion in $32 billion US market

For American women, shopping for a stylish outfit in size 16 or above can be a hassle.

It can entail walking to a tiny corner tucked in the back of a store, or directing a web browser to a pint-sized section of a retailer’s website, where the models displayed may or may not be plus-sized. Or, it could involve shopping from brands entirely different from where a woman’s thinner friends shop. Although more women than ever are searching for extended sizes, the choices can be frustratingly limited.

Old Navy is looking to seize this opportunity. And part of the retailer’s strategy will involve breaking down some of the barriers that have existed for years.

Old Navy will soon offer sizes 0-28 and XS-4X for all of its women’s styles in its stores, and up to size 30 online. On its website, the Gap Inc.-owned brand will create a single destination for all women’s clothing. Models will appear in sizes four, 12 and 18.

Across its 1,200 stores, Old Navy will also rearrange merchandise so that customers in search of extended sizes won’t be directed to a separate area to browse, which has been the case since Old Navy debuted dedicated plus-size shops in 75 stores in 2018. All stores will soon feature mannequins in sizes four, 12 and 18.

Although Old Navy has offered a smattering of plus-size apparel since 2004, its latest efforts go beyond prior attempts to reach this market. To succeed, it will need to effectively juggle a wider array of inventory, which can be a risky bet.

“As we started to understand the opportunity here, we realized a few years ago that we weren’t doing enough to really think about size inclusion and how the demographics are changing in the U.S.,” Old Navy Chief Executive Nancy Green said in an interview.

“I have family members that wear plus sizes, and I can’t shop with them,” Green added. “And shopping is social. It’s something that people want to do together.”

Old Navy’s investments come as the plus-size apparel category is seeing growth, in part because of an increasing obesity rate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 73.6% of all U.S. adults over the age of 20 are overweight, with the average woman wearing a size 16 to 18.

The fashion industry doesn’t strictly define the plus-size category, but a number of retailers put anything over size 14 in this segment.

Retail research and advisory group Coresight Research has estimated that the value of the extended-size market for women in the U.S. will grow to $32.3 billion this year, representing roughly 20.7% of the total women’s apparel market. (Coresight cited Plus Model magazine, which identifies plus-sized apparel as sizes 18 and over, or 1X and up.)

“Extended sizes has been outpacing the growth of the regular-size market, and according to our research it’s going to continue to outpace the regular-sized…