I was a chemistry TA for three years in grad school. I marked something like nine hundred undergrad lab reports, and the format got into my bloodstream. Hypothesis, method, data, sources of error. I can’t buy a coat without one anymore.
So when Old Navy put a designer collaboration on its homepage and then quietly marked every single piece of it “Excluded from Promotion” while the rest of the site has an extra 20% off at checkout, I did what any reasonable former TA would do. I opened eleven tabs and ran an experiment.
Here’s the write-up. You may skip to the Results table. My students always did.
Lab Report No. 7: Does the Altuzarra Tag Survive Contact With the Extra 20% Off?
Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Location: my couch in Winnipeg, where it was 4°C this morning and I could see my breath at the bus stop
Lab partner: none. The cat observed.
Apparatus: Old Navy Canada’s website, a laptop, coffee
Background
Old Navy x Altuzarra is the new collab with the New York designer Joseph Altuzarra. The homepage pitch is “everyday romance,” and the pieces lean that way: velvet, scarf prints, Fair Isle knits, a lot of maxi dresses. The collection page showed 56 results when I counted, kids’ pieces included.
Two things on every collab product page caught my eye. First, “Excluded from Promotion.” The regular stuff right next to it says “Extra 20% Off, No Code Needed.” Second, “Return by mail only.” Old Navy’s normal policy lets you return in store or by prepaid label. The collab only gets the label.
Neither of those is a scandal. Designer collabs are almost always excluded from sales. But it means the price gap between a collab piece and its regular-line cousin is wider this week than the sticker suggests. That gap is what I wanted to measure.
Hypothesis
If I’m paying extra for the Altuzarra name, the collab piece should be different enough from the regular version that I could tell them apart from across a room. Different fabric, different cut, something real.
Null hypothesis: it’s mostly a tag.
Method
I picked three collab pieces and found the closest regular Old Navy item for each, usually from the “related items” row on the product page itself. For each pair I recorded price, price after the extra 20% where it applies, fabric content, fit notes, sizes showing in stock, and review count.
Everything was done on screen. I did not touch any of these garments, which is the biggest flaw in this study and I’ll own it in Sources of Error.
Trial 1: The Overcoat
Collab: Old Navy x Altuzarra Overcoat, CA$149.99. One colour, Grasscloth, a greenish khaki. High funnel neck, full button front, loose fit, hits the knee. Listed as “soft, cozy wool-like fabric,” which turns out to be 100% recycled polyester with a polyester lining. In stock XS to XL. XXL through 4X were greyed out.
Regular: Oversized Longline Overcoat, CA$99.99, so CA$79.99 after the extra 20%. Oatmeal. Spread collar, button front, oversized fit, hits below the knee. 100% polyester. Comes in Regular, Tall and Petite, sizes XS to 4X. The listing doesn’t mention a lining.
Observations. Both coats are polyester. “Wool-like” is a phrase that does a lot of heavy lifting in this industry and I have marked students down for less. What you’re actually getting for the extra CA$70 is that funnel neck, a lining, and the colour. The funnel neck is genuinely nice. It’s the detail that makes the collab coat look more expensive in photos.
But if you’re 5’3″ like my sister, only the regular coat comes in Petite. And if you wear above an XL, the collab one isn’t available to you right now anyway.
Result: failed to reject the null. I’d buy the regular coat and put the CA$70 toward something with actual wool in it. Which brings us to…
Trial 2: The Fair Isle Sweater
Collab: Old Navy x Altuzarra Fair Isle Mock-Neck Sweater, CA$89.99. Two colourways: Red Lacquer and Hearthwood. Mock neck, drop shoulders, rib-knit cuffs and hem, relaxed fit. Fabric: 55% recycled polyester, 26% wool, 19% nylon.
Regular: Oversized Crew-Neck Fairisle Sweater, CA$59.99, so CA$47.99 after the extra 20%. Warm Fair Isle colourway. Crew neck, oversized fit. Fabric: 53% cotton, 24% recycled polyester, 20% nylon, 3% spandex. No wool. Regular, Tall and Petite, XS to 4X.
Observations. This is the only pair where the collab piece is made of something different. A quarter wool won’t make it a heritage Shetland knit, but in a Winnipeg October it’s the difference between a sweater and a sweater you also need a jacket over. The mock neck is the other real design change.
And here’s a data point I didn’t plan for. Red Lacquer was already sold out in XS, S, 2X, 3X and 4X when I checked. Only M, L and XL were left. Hearthwood still had XS through 3X, with 4X gone. Other people clearly ran this experiment before me and reached the same conclusion.
Result: null rejected. The CA$42 gap buys you real wool content and a better neckline. This is the collab piece I’d actually spend money on.
Trial 3: The Wide-Leg Jeans
Collab: Old Navy x Altuzarra High-Waisted Baggy Wide-Leg Jeans, CA$89.99. Indigo or Black Jack. Sits at the belly button, “super-baggy thigh,” hits below the ankle, 30″ regular inseam. 95% cotton, 5% recycled cotton, so no stretch at all. Sizes 0 to 18. Reviews: zero.
Regular: Extra High-Waisted Wide-Leg Jeans, CA$69.99, so CA$55.99 after the extra 20%, and a few of the nine washes were marked down further. Sits above the belly button, loose through hip and thigh. 93% cotton, 5% recycled cotton, 2% spandex. Regular, Tall and Petite, sizes 0 to 30. In the colour I checked, 20, 22, 24, 28 and 30 were out. Reviews: 4.51 stars from 2,067 ratings.
Observations. Rigid denim versus a little stretch is a real difference, and some people want rigid. I’m not one of them, because I sit down sometimes. But the most honest number in this entire report is 0 reviews versus 2,067. One of these pairs has been tested on thousands of real bodies. The other is brand new and nobody has reviewed it yet.
Result: inconclusive, leaning regular. If you specifically want baggy rigid jeans and you’re between 0 and 18, the collab pair is the “designer” version of that. Otherwise the regular ones have the data.
Control: The Satin Scarf
Every good experiment needs a control. Mine is the cheapest way into the collab: the Old Navy x Altuzarra Satin Scarf, CA$27.99. Square, 77 by 75.5 cm, 100% polyester, in two prints, Black Jack and Paper Roses.
If what you want is the name and the romance-print look without committing CA$100, this is it. Knot it at the neck of a coat you already own, or tie it on a bag strap. Nobody is checking fibre content on a scarf.
Results
| Pair | Collab price | Regular after extra 20% | Gap | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overcoat | CA$149.99 | CA$79.99 | CA$70.00 | Regular. Both polyester. |
| Fair Isle sweater | CA$89.99 | CA$47.99 | CA$42.00 | Collab. 26% wool, mock neck. |
| Wide-leg jeans | CA$89.99 | CA$55.99 | CA$34.00 | Regular, unless you want rigid denim. |
| Satin scarf (control) | CA$27.99 | n/a | n/a | Cheapest way into the collab. |
My actual cart: collab sweater in Hearthwood plus the regular overcoat. CA$169.98 before tax. Both collab pieces would have been CA$239.98.
Sources of Error
1. No physical contact. I didn’t touch any of this. “Wool-like” could feel amazing. The regular coat could pill by November. I’m working from fabric labels and fit notes only.
2. Stock is moving. Everything here is as of the morning of October 6. The sold-out sizes on Red Lacquer tell you how fast the good collab pieces go.
3. Promo timing. I couldn’t find an end date for the extra 20% off where I looked. Don’t build a budget around it lasting.
4. Researcher bias. I am a person who owns four Fair Isle sweaters. Weigh Trial 2 accordingly.
Discussion (the practical part)
Shipping. Rewards members get free basic shipping (7 to 9 business days) on orders of CA$50 or more, or CA$35 for Icon members. Non-members pay CA$9 for standard, which is 4 to 5 business days. Signing up is free, so do that first.
Returns. Normal Old Navy purchases can go back in store or by prepaid label within 30 days of delivery. The collab pieces say “Return by mail only,” so if you’re the type who returns things on the way home from work, plan for a trip to the post office instead.
Contamination. While I was in there, the women’s printed flannel pajama pant sets were a Today Only Deal at CA$24, down from CA$59.99. This was not part of the protocol. I added one to my cart anyway. Every lab has a contamination incident eventually.
Conclusion
The Altuzarra tag is worth paying for exactly once in this collection, and it’s on the piece with actual wool in it. For the coat and the jeans, Old Navy’s own regular line plus the extra 20% does most of the job for a lot less.
Everything I compared is on Old Navy Canada’s site. Prices and sizes are from the morning of October 6, so check before you trust my numbers.
Disclosure: those are affiliate links, so I earn a small commission if you buy something, at no extra cost to you. Grade received on this report, self-assessed: B+. I’d have taken marks off for the pajamas.
Have you seen any of the collab pieces in person? Tell me in the comments, especially if you’ve touched that overcoat. My Sources of Error section needs you.