What Old Navy’s Failed Experiment In Inclusive Sizes Means For Retailers

Last year Old Navy announced they would stock all women’s clothing styles in size 0 to 30 and XS to 4X. The move made them one of the first retailers to make such an aggressive commitment to inclusive sizing. Less than a year later, the choice is looking like a major failure and the rest of the fashion industry is watching. Frustrated consumers report being unable to find their sizes as Old Navy has ended up sold out of all their middle sizes and with an overstock of their largest and smallest sizes.

There is also an increased material cost to make larger sizes. As designer Diane von Furstenberg said at the WSJ Future of Everything Festival, “if you are a size 2 and if you are a size 16, you do not use the same amount of fabric. 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.” So where does this leave the push for more inclusive sizing in fashion? Right now it doesn’t look good.