This email was sent from Nancy Green, President and CEO of Old Navy, to all global Gap Inc. employees.
On August 20, Old Navy is going to change the world.
Old Navy was founded in 1994 to deliver the Democracy of Style: the idea that everyone regardless of age, race, size or income should have access to great fashion. But for too long, the retail industry has left out too many women simply because of their size. We knew we had an opportunity to reach more women and create a shopping experience that made all women, no matter their size, feel that they belonged.
Today we are announcing the largest integrated launch in the brand’s history with the launch of BODEQUALITY.
BODEQUALITY represents an innovative and fully inclusive shopping experience in stores and online through a human-centered design approach. No separate “Plus size” sections. No “one-size fits all” mannequins or models. This is size equality, price equality, and style for women everywhere. What I’m most proud of is how this effort stays true to our values of democratizing style for all while unlocking one of our key growth opportunities outlined in the Power Plan 2023. It is a transformative moment for our brand and our customers, that further establishes our leadership position in inclusive fit and style.
BODEQUALITY is the culmination of years of work that started in 2004 when we first introduced extended sizes. Since then, we’ve embodied being Customer Curious and applied learnings from extensive customer listening sessions, shop-alongs, body scans and fit clinics with hundreds of women. We reinvented our fit processes and size standards to ensure a better fit across size ranges. We hired additional fit models at a broader size range to make sure we didn’t miss a single detail—like pocket size and placements, denim waist gaps and length of dresses and pants.
After landing inclusive fit in product, we then turned our attention to the opportunity in experience in our stores and online. By co-creating with our customers, we experimented and tested an innovative shopping experience that fully integrated all sizes into all styles with price parity and tested across a pilot group of stores with strong customer feedback. With this launch, all sizes will be fully integrated in the women’s section, and our associates have been trained on how best to engage with customers with empathy to create a welcoming environment. We took the learnings from our store tests to our online experience. Now, when you visit OldNavy.com you’ll find the Women’s and Women’s Plus collections merged and women’s styles are now photographed in sizes four, 12 and 18 with the ability to toggle to view the style in the size that looks most like you. This was a true cross-brand effort that is a meaningful transformation of our experience, and revolutionary for our customers.
In typical Old Navy style, we have a fun and bold marketing campaign that features a vibrant and diverse cast of all sizes. Saturday Night Live and SHRILL star Aidy Bryant brings our fashion revolution to life through a new video spot and social media content, and we'll be going live with hundreds of marketing placements in New York and Los Angeles that showcase our rallying cry to women. We’ve also partnered with body positivity influencers who are excited to spread the word and what it means to them. Early reactions from the influencer and customer community have been highly emotional and appreciative of what we are creating.
Today’s announcement is a giant leap forward on our mission to become the most loved and inclusive brand through the democracy of style and service. This work exemplifies our values of Be Customer Curious, Try Fast, Learn Fast, Think Big and Create with Audacity. I want to express my gratitude to everyone at Old Navy and across Gap Inc. that imagined what was possible and brought it to life for our customers.
Welcome to the revolution.
- Nancy