Target is launching one of its largest branded partnerships to date this week, with a new line called Pacsun Kids.
The line, co-created with Pacsun, will run for at least three years, with several more collections already in the works. The debut collection — made up of over 100 styles priced at $30 or less — encompasses T-shirts, tank tops, denim and dresses, all targeted at tweens and available in sizes S-XL. New products will be added to the collection every month and sold in Target stores and on Target.com.
Tara Russell, svp of apparel and accessories at Target, told Glossy that the partnership is qualitatively different than other, more limited collaborations Target has done recently with brands like LoveShackFancy.
“Those are limited drops meant to drive engagement around limited-time stuff and let our customers get access to more expensive brands,” Russell said. “This is more about building on our tween customer [base].”
Russell said the feedback the company has gathered through surveying parents and tweens is that tweens want recognizable national brands like Pacsun, while parents want the affordability and familiarity of shopping at Target.
The $30 price point was settled on early, and the design team at Pacsun, with support from Target, which contributed its customers’ preferences, built the product to match it. This process allowed the designers to make decisions around materials and construction techniques early rather than compromising later.
The collection builds on an area where Target is already strong: kids apparel. Cat & Jack, one of Target’s private labels focused on children, brings in more than $3 billion annually, a tenth of Target’s total private-label revenue, and is one of the largest children’s brands in the world. But Cat & Jack is aimed at younger kids, while Target’s other labels, like Wild Fable, are aimed at teens. Pacsun Kids is aimed at pre-teens, filling a gap in Target’s portfolio.
“The tween years are often when young consumers begin taking ownership of their style, making back-to-school an especially meaningful fashion moment,” said Richard Cox, Pacsun’s chief merchandising officer. “Pacsun understands how to translate emerging trends in a way that feels relevant and age-appropriate, while Target makes that discovery accessible to families nationwide.”
It’s a big opportunity. Groupe Dynamite, the parent company of the teen favorite Garage, for example, brings in revenue of over $1 billion annually. And American Eagle’s annual revenue is over $5 billion.
Pacsun has had a resurgence in recent years. Its revenue is now close to $1 billion, up from $700 million in 2023. Last year, Pacsun was ranked as the No. 3 most-popular brand among teens in the U.S., according to Piper Sandler. A study by DKC this year found that Gen Alpha is influencing $95 billion worth of purchases annually either by buying themselves or directing their parents on what to buy.
Russell said Target is increasingly leaning on collaborations with brands both large and small that are already popular with teen customers. In addition to Pacsun, it launched a home collection with another teen favorite, Hollister, at the end of June. And it launched a limited-edition line with the kids’ pajama brand Roller Rabbit in February. The latter drove over $6 million in revenue within hours of going live. Russell said teen and tween shopping habits are changing rapidly, and Target needs to adjust to those changes to stay competitive.
For Pacsun, the partnership is a chance to expand its national reach with Target’s expansive store network. Pacsun operates over 350 stores in the country, while Target has more than 2,000. Russell said Target let Pacsun take the lead on product development and design, banking on both its popularity with teens and Pacsun’s connection to culture through its collaborations with influencers like Emma Chamberlain and merch collections with the likes of Governor’s Ball in New York City.
“We see that kids are aging up more rapidly,” Russell said. “They are influenced by and want to wear styles like older age groups. The 7-year-olds want to dress like 10-year-olds. The tweens want to dress like teens, and the teens like adults. We have to move quicker and look beyond our typical inspiration channels — looking at culture, sports, music — because the cues kids are taking are broader.”
