Old Navy called out for charging women more for plus-size clothing

ByTiffany Wilson KGO logo
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Old Navy called out for charging women more for plus-size clothes online
Old Navy is being criticized after customers noticed higher prices for plus-sized women's clothing over regular sized women's clothing, but that wasn't the case for men's clothing.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Old Navy is being criticized after customers noticed higher prices for plus-sized women's clothing over regular sized women's clothing, but that wasn't the case for men's clothing.

Old Navy shoppers will find the same price tag on a pair of regular size two jeans and size 18 jeans. The Old navy plus line is only available online and that's where customers are noticing a double digit price difference. Men's clothing was consistent regardless of the size.

The outcry against Old Navy pricing practices started with Renee Posey of New York. While shopping online she realized plus-sized pants were $12 to $15 dollars more.

According to her Change.org petition, Posey says she was fine paying the extra money because she figured it accounted for the additional fabric, until she looked at the large men's sizes and saw the price never changed.

The petition, which now has more than 30,000 signatures, questions why women are forced to pay more when men are not.

Old Navy's parent company, GAP Inc., attributes the increased cost to a separate design team dedicated to the plus-size line.

The company's statement reads in part: "While we don't make more money on our plus-size line, our plus-size clothes cost more because we invest more in them."

Many of the people who signed Posey's Change.org petition don't buy that reasoning. Time will tell whether they continue to buy clothes at Old Navy.