Sourcing Journal Denim Magazine Mentions First Insight | More to Love
Well, according to Greg Petro, CEO of First Insight, the denim players seeing the strongest momentum are the ones expanding their offerings and services beyond jeans.
“What we’re seeing isn’t just diversification for revenue’s sake—it’s about loyalty, frequency, relevancy and pulling the next generation into the brand,” Petro told SJ Denim. “Denim is often a seasonal or twice-a-year purchase, but categories like beauty and accessories are bought far more frequently and are generally considered lower risk. If retailers can get a shopper to add a fragrance, mini lip gloss or travel spray while they’re buying jeans, you’ve grown both the trip frequency and the basket size.”
“When a private-label line sits next to established names, it gives shoppers permission to believe the quality is there,” Petro said. “But credibility alone isn’t enough—discovery has to feel easy and low-risk. That’s why trial sizes, bundles and introductory offers are so effective; they make it simple for shoppers to experiment. And when those products are tied to the core shopping mission—offered as an add-on to apparel or accessories—it builds trial, bigger baskets and loyalty across categories.”
While expanding into new categories seems to be paying off for Kontoor and Gap Inc., not every apparel brand will be successful.
In fact, nearly 80 percent of new products fail, Petro noted, often because retailers lean too heavily on instinct or chase fleeting trends. The rare successes, he added, are the brands that bring customers into the process from the very beginning. “Retailers must ask consumers what feels authentic, test concepts and validate pricing and positioning. When customers and artificial intelligence [AI] are part of the process, the odds of success rise dramatically,” Petro said.
“Expanding into new categories is not just about adding more stock keeping units [SKU]—it’s about extending a brand’s identity in a way that feels natural to the customer. The retailers that succeed will be the ones with a strong community, a clear lifestyle point of view and the discipline to execute consistently.”
Success will also hinge on how well brands connect with the next generation of shoppers.
Petro noted that younger consumers—specifically Gen Z, with an estimated global spending power of more than $450 billion in 2024, and Gen Alpha, whose annual direct spending power topped $100 billion by mid-2025, according to Statista—see brands as more than just product providers. To them, Petro said, brands function as cultural markers.
“Gen Z and now Gen Alpha expect the brands they trust to extend naturally into other parts of their lives, and they’re quick to reward those that feel authentic in doing so,” Petro added. “That means loyalty isn’t tied to a single category, but to whether a brand reflects their lifestyle and values—a much higher bar, and one that only a handful of apparel players are likely to clear.”
Read the full article in the Fall 2025 Issue of SJ Denim Magazine.
