Cardi B has revealed that she once layered tights beneath her jeans to make her hips and thighs look fuller, years before becoming the face of Old Navy's new autumn denim campaign. The Grammy-winning rapper shared the teenage insecurity as the brand released its Wild West-inspired 'Most Wanted Denim' campaign online on 4 August 2026.
The project reframes a garment she once used to conceal her body concerns as a symbol of the confidence she now brings to fashion. The 33-year-old 'Bodak Yellow' and 'Up' hitmaker said skinny jeans made her increasingly conscious of having a flatter figure while growing up in the South Bronx.
'I used to stuff my jeans,' Cardi said, explaining: 'I would put like two, three tights under my jeans so my butt and my thighs could be thicker.' She linked the practice to the curvier beauty ideal valued around her, saying she feared that her bottom would look 'extra flat' in denim.
From Insecurity to Campaign Lead
Cardi now fronts the campaign in head-to-toe denim alongside models and creators Paloma Elsesser, Brooks Nader, Wisdom Kaye, Quen Blackwell and Haley Baylee.
The shoot presents the group as a stylised denim crew against a Western-inspired backdrop, with Cardi placed at the centre of the line-up.
The video gives the classic denim posse a glossy 2026 update, pairing Western references with relaxed silhouettes designed for everyday wardrobes.
Released as part of the retailer's ongoing 'It's Old Navy' platform, the campaign follows the summer chapter led by Paris Hilton and Kathy Hilton.
Her casting also marks a full-circle connection with a retailer she knew long before chart success, designer gowns and front-row fashion moments. Cardi recalled shopping at Old Navy while growing up, including family trips for coordinated Fourth of July outfits.
She said the partnership felt natural because customers could find clothes for different body types without 'breaking the bank', positioning affordability and fit alongside the campaign's celebrity power.
Denim Designed Around Different Bodies
The autumn collection introduces the Arc jean, a mid-rise design with a rounded, curved-leg silhouette. It appears alongside the High-Rise Wide Leg, Baggy Barrel and Low-Rise Baggy fits, with selected denim styles starting at US$22.
The varied cuts give the campaign a practical body-shape angle, showing multiple ways denim can sit, drape and create proportion rather than presenting one fit as the standard.
Old Navy chief creative officer Zac Posen said Cardi's directness was central to her casting. 'I've always admired Cardi B's honesty and the confidence with which she expresses herself,' he said.
Posen added that denim changes with each generation and point of view, while the wider cast brings distinct proportions, styling choices and public personas to the campaign.
Cardi B's Style Stays Personal
The rapper described her everyday style as 'sexy and comfortable', favouring fitted tops with relaxed jeans, trousers or sweats. That formula is far removed from the elaborate couture she regularly wears at the Met Gala and other red-carpet events, but it reflects the flexibility that has long shaped her public image.
Cardi can move between sculpted gowns, archival fashion and off-duty denim without treating any single silhouette as her permanent uniform. The campaign arrives after Cardi expanded her music catalogue with her second studio album, Am I the Drama?, following her Grammy-winning 2018 debut, Invasion of Privacy.
Her latest fashion role does not erase the insecurity she described from adolescence, but it places that experience inside a visible career shift. The teenager who altered her jeans to meet a local beauty standard is now selling denim by showing how confidently she wears it on her own terms.
