Carter's rebrands with new logo and Watch Them Glow campaign

Carter's rebrands with new logo and Watch Them Glow campaign

Tue, September 15, 2026 at 4:21 PM GMT+3 2 min read

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Carter's unveiled a new brand identity and marketing campaign on Tuesday, as the children's clothing company works to attract a younger generation of parents and build on a recent business turnaround.

The rebrand centers on a new brand promise — "Let every child's light shine" — and a refreshed logo in which a shooting star replaces the apostrophe in the Carter's wordmark, the company said. A new 60-second film called "Watch Them Glow" will debut across connected television as the first major marketing expression of the new direction.

Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Crockett told CNBC that the company sees a significant shift in its core customer base. Gen Z is expected to account for a large share of new parents over the next several years, according to Carter's, and those parents tend to let children make their own clothing choices and turn to social media for guidance.

"We had an opportunity to really tap into the values that parents are bringing into the household," Crockett told CNBC.

The new identity will begin rolling out across Carter's channels in 2026, with additional retail, product, and packaging elements to follow in 2027, the company said. Carter's is also launching a creator program called Light Makers, featuring voices across North America, and expanding partnerships with organizations including Outward Bound and Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

The rebrand comes as Carter's works to recover from a difficult stretch. Over the past three years, Carter's stock has lost more than half its value, leaving the company with a market capitalization of roughly $1 billion. In fiscal year 2025, Carter's posted adjusted net income of $126.1 million, a notable decline from the $210.7 million it earned the year prior.

The prior October, CEO Douglas Palladini disclosed plans to cut 15% of corporate staff and close 150 stores across North America once their leases ran out, according to CNBC. Since those cuts, Carter's has pointed to encouraging results, including a 10.5% rise in U.S. comparable sales during the first quarter of 2026 and a mid-teens percentage increase in Gen Z customers in the second quarter.

Sharon Price John, formerly the CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop, who came aboard shortly before Carter's released first-quarter earnings in May, told CNBC that the generational change in who is buying children's clothing represents the most significant shift in the parent demographic the company has encountered in a quarter century.

"Brands evolve. They have to. If they don't evolve, they're left behind," Price John said.