This 7-year-old girl asked Old Navy for jeans with real pockets—and they said yes

You’d think that by now the fashion industry would know that girls and women alike love pockets. Heck, there are 17 million (million!) TikToks hashtagged #ithaspockets celebrating clothes with storage options. So why are pockets on jeans for girls fake, sewn shut, or small so much of the time?

That’s what one Arkansas first-grader wanted to know—so she asked Old Navy to put real pockets on their girls’ jeans.

When Mrs. Jayne’s first grade class at Evening Star Elementary in Bentonville, Arkansas, was learning about persuasive writing, seven-year-old Kamryn Gardner used it as an opportunity to give Old Navy some feedback on her jeans. “I do not like that the front pockets of the girls jeans are fake,” she wrote. “I want to put my hands in them. I also would like to put things in them.” Evening Star Elementary shared the letter—and the company’s reply—on their Facebook page.

Kamryn Gardner/Evening Star Elementary

Old Navy responded by sending Gardner two pairs each of girls’ jeans and shorts with real pockets and a note that assured her they’ll be in stores soon. “Thank you so much for taking the time to write us about pockets on girls’ jeans,” they said. “It’s great feedback as we develop new product.”

Kamryn Gardner/Evening Star Elementary

It’s a relief for parents who have been frustrated with their daughters’ clothes for years. In 2018, one mom went viral when she tweeted that her daughter had resorted to stuffing things down her shirt because she didn’t have pockets. And in 2014, Sharon Burns Choksi got so annoyed with her daughter’s non-functional pants that she decided to Kickstart her own kids’ clothing brand, Girls Will Be.

The reason girls and their parents are so fed up with pocketless jeans is simple. Without pockets, girls have to carry rocks, toys, change, snacks and any other small whatnots in their hands or carry a bag. Boys, meanwhile, have total freedom of movement and of their hands while they play.

And that’s well beyond the reason girls don’t get pockets, according to this brief history of girls’ fashion from the Washington Post: Basically, we expect our daughters to wear the slim-fitting clothes women wear as early as possible, and bulging pockets mess up the lines of those clothes. But girls (and boys who like girls’ clothes, for that matter) deserve more from their wardrobe than to just cut a slim figure.

Kamryn Gardner/Evening Star Elementary

That’s why it’s especially great to see Old Navy responding so thoughtfully to one of their littler customers, and to see Evening Star Elementary and Bentonville Schools, Gardner’s school and district, celebrating and supporting her for speaking up. “Now that’s using your voice!” Evening Star wrote in a Facebook post. “Way to go, Kamryn!”

Girls don’t just deserve pockets, they deserve to be heard—and thanks at least in part to Kamryn Gardner, more girls will be heard about the clothes they want to wear.