Carter's, 161 Years Old, Courts Gen Z Parents With Data
At Brandweek 2026, Carter's and Zappi explained how 161 years of heritage, constant consumer data and 80s-90s nostalgia keep the childrenswear giant relevant.
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The brief
- Carter's, founded 161 years ago, is reintroducing its brand to Gen Z parents based on consumer insight data.
- OshKosh B'gosh launched the OshKosh Reissued Collection, reviving 1980s and 1990s favorites print-for-print.
- Zappi CMO Nataly Kelly urged brands to centralize customer data to break down silos and spot consumer trends.
Carter's is reintroducing itself to a new generation of parents, and it is doing so on the strength of one hard number: 161 years in business. At a Brandweek 2026 fireside chat co-hosted with Zappi, Rebecca Stewart, brand editor of Adweek, sat down with Aubrie Corey, global VP of brand marketing at Carter's, and Nataly Kelly, CMO of Zappi, to discuss how a heritage brand stays fresh.
The stakes are generational. Gen Z does not inherit brand loyalty.
"Gen Z isn't necessarily picking brands because they were their parents' brands, but because they're choosing those brands," Corey explained. "With each generation, you have to ensure that the way you're expressing yourself really resonates."
Carter's data shows parenting itself has changed. Millennials styled their children with a "mini me" approach, as Corey put it. Gen Z parents prefer brands that encourage their kids' self-expression.
"Children come into this world with a light entirely their own," Corey said. "They come in with such a unique individuality, and it's not for us to create that uniqueness. It's for us to recognize that and to protect and encourage it."
That shift demands constant consumer data, Kelly argued. "Striking that balance between consistency and adaptability—and evolving to where the consumer is headed—really requires a constant pulse of consumer insights to feed how you evolve the brand," she observed.
Nostalgia as strategy
Generational connection sometimes means looking backward rather than forward. When consumer insights and conversations revealed strong interest in vintage clothing, Carter's brand OshKosh B'gosh launched the OshKosh Reissued Collection, reviving customer favorites from the 1980s and 1990s.
"It's print-for-print some of our vintage products that are so resonant with someone who's a Gen X or millennial, who remembers when they were wearing that product," Corey said. "But it also feels new and fresh for this generation as well."
Whether modernizing or harkening back, Carter's focuses on what Corey described as "the business of memory making"—being present with customers at emotional moments in their lives and giving them something to look back at.
A recent partnership with Umbro embraced cross-generational passion for the World Cup with a line of soccer-themed clothing. "We know that our multicultural consumer is more important than ever," Corey reflected. "How do we show up in this moment where the world's going to be watching?"
Breaking down silos
For brands looking to turn customer signals into strategy, Kelly advised centralizing data. "A lot of those signals appear in different systems and different silos throughout large organizations," she said. "Centralizing data enables you to leverage that data over time, see what the trends are, and understand where the consumer is going."
That approach is what lets Carter's stay modern without losing sight of its past. The company draws a sharp distinction between the label and the reality.
"We're not a heritage brand," Corey concluded. "We're a brand with heritage."
For marketers at established companies, the Carter's playbook suggests relevance is less about age than about a willingness to read each new generation of consumers—and to act on what the data says.
Based on ir.carters.com
Filed under brand-strategy, gen-z, consumer-insights, data-driven-marketing, brand-marketing
Priya Raman
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Correspondent covering industry trends and analytics at Marketing Herald.