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September 16, 2025
Will the Amazon Essentials Denim Collection Appeal to Gen Z?
In the wake of the controversial yet commercially successful Sydney Sweeney denim campaign put forth by American Eagle, as well as the less-talked-about yet also notable Levi’s collab with Beyoncé, it appears that “what’s old is new again” in the realm of fashion as Amazon launches an Essentials lineup of denim apparel in advance of its Prime Big Deal Days event, slated to run Oct. 8-Oct. 9.
Amazon is aiming squarely at the up-and-coming Gen Z demographic this time around, tapping influencers from that age cohort in Kate Bartlett and her best friend, Luca Mornet. While the pair aren’t necessarily household names, they do have some prestige in the fashion influencer space, as Life & Style’s Lauren Schuster outlined.
“The pair attended the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) from 2019 to 2023, where they both began to gain a following from posting content about fashion and their lives as college students in NYC. They are now New York Fashion Week regulars, attending designer shows and capturing the experience for their followers online,” Schuster wrote.
“Bartlett cemented herself as a top TikTok fashion influencer when she reached a million followers on the platform back in 2022. She now sits at 1.5 million followers on TikTok as she continues to share her life in the world of fashion, and now her life as a fashion graduate student at NYU,” she added.
Amazon Essentials Denim: Trend-Chasing or Long-Term Affordability and Style?
Amazon announced the launch of the Essentials denim lineup on Instagram, via its AmazonFashion account, as well as via Bartlett and Mornet’s social media profiles — in addition to a mention within the lede of a Sept. 16 press release tied to its Prime Big Deal Days sale.
And with Yahoo Finance’s Brooke DiPalma recently announcing that “jeans are the hottest trade in the retail world,” it may make simple business sense for Amazon to lean in on the emerging trend.
DiPalma quoted Bryant University professor of marketing Sharmin Attaran on the subject.
“Denim is having a moment. Retailers are not … following it, but they’re amplifying it,” he began.
“This a different, slower time, and that really reset expectations for comfort now that we’re back in offices and back to our lives, classroom, social spaces. Denim returning is a way to kind of look put together,” he added.
The financials seem to back that claim, with DiPalma citing Dana Telsey of Telsey Advisory Group as saying that the U.S. denim market was projected to grow by mid single digits in the years to come.
“Levi Strauss CFO Harmit Singh told a Goldman Sachs conference this week that the denim market is a $100 billion global opportunity,” DiPalma added, also noting that Target had seen women’s denim sales surge by 28% during its most recent quarter.
Discussion Questions
Will the Amazon Essentials denim collection attract significant consumer attention? Why or why not? Can it out-muscle more established brands?
Given the increasingly short-lived and cyclical nature of today’s fashion market, will an expansion into trending denim appetites leave retailers holding the bag on unsold stock, or will demand persist?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Cathy Hotka
Principal, Cathy Hotka & Associates
Lisa Goller
B2B Content Strategist
Scott Benedict
Founder & CEO, Benedict Enterprises LLC
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Given the popularity of denim and the ubiquity of Amazon, I am sure this will generate a good level of revenue. The bigger question is how the Amazon brand fits into the denim fashion space. Amazon is not always top of mind when it comes to fashion, so it relies more on the strength of the designs and products it puts in front of people. In this case, the designs look pretty strong and the prices are sharp, so that helps. However, it is also interesting that Amazon has used an influencer to launch the range in an attempt to generate some energy.
Denim never dies. With the right approach, Amazon can really make a splash here, and Gap’s and Target’s denim ads have ramped up the buzz as well.
Affordable staples are always in fashion, so Amazon’s new denim collection will attract consumer attention.
The Amazon Essentials line is solid for basics at an accessible price point. The denim collection includes classic cuts and stretchy material, which can help online shoppers improve the odds they’ll find the right fit without trying an item on first.
Detailed reviews further boost consumer confidence and reduce returns when buying apparel online.
Amazon has sold its branded retail clothing under lines like Basics with mixed success in quality and execution for years. Denim, however is a staple item, where if fit and finish are decent, priced at a good value, they stand a chance of succeeding with repeat business. Gen Z consumers love getting a great deal, especially with limited incomes in their age bracket. The timing could be perfect for Amazon Essentials here, especially if they utilize social media to win over the minds and hearts of this target base.
I don’t think it has the cache. It’s cheap, but not chic
Amazon isn’t going after fashion creds (it’s effectively commoditizing it), but is competing at the intersection of price, fit technology (detailed reviews, return policies), and distribution efficiency. Previous generations viewed fashion as a means of expressing identity, requiring authentic brand heritage. Gen Z increasingly views fashion as a function of self-expression where provenance matters less than personal styling and social media presentation. Gen Z is satisfied with “good enough” styling over traditional brand storytelling. Strategically, Amazon is establishing a defensive position against the growing influence of social commerce platforms where Gen Z is increasingly comfortable making purchases. If successful, Amazon could scale this model across its private label portfolio.
Amazon Essentials’ denim line will certainly attract some attention, particularly among Gen Z shoppers who value affordability, convenience, and the influence of social media. Amazon’s scale, reach, and logistics give it an edge in quickly getting product in front of millions at sharp price points. That said, denim is a category where brand heritage, quality, and fit still matter, and established players like Levi’s and Wrangler remain difficult to out-muscle.
The risk lies in fashion’s cyclical nature. Denim trends come and go quickly, and missteps in style or fit can leave excess inventory. Amazon’s advantage is its ability to test, scale, and cut back rapidly, which reduces that risk. If it delivers on design and quality while leveraging its distribution strength, Amazon can capture share in the basics and value segment. But displacing established brands with strong reputations for style and longevity will be a much taller order.
Denim poses an interesting challenge for brick and mortar retailers that Amazon might overcome. Namely, the expansion of variety within lines coupled with sizes makes it a challenge for finite shelf space to have what every shopper needs. Amazon’s known inventory and tracking makes delivering the denim style and size a shopper wants a more likely outcome. On just their ability to deliver the denim a shopper wants, Amazon will do well.