Pacsun opens Youth Council to wider applicant pool as brands bet on Gen Z input

Pacsun has shared the second cohort of its Youth Council and launched a new Ambassador Programme as it aims to leverage input directly from its target audience, Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

Close to 1,000 Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers applied to join the council this year, underlining the growing interest from consumers to co-create with Pacsun. Now in its second year, the Los Angeles-based specialty retailer said the 15 incoming members, aged 12 to 22, will take part in quarterly strategy sessions, workshops, executive mentorship and brand experiences, feeding into product development, campaigns and community initiatives.

The new Ambassador Program extends the model to applicants who were not selected for the council. Ambassadors will submit survey feedback on products and emerging trends and represent the brand in their schools and communities, receiving branded sweatshirts, discount codes and community-building tools.

“Youth culture moves too quickly to be understood from the sidelines,” said Briena Olson, chief executive officer at Pacsun, in a statement, who described the Youth Council as a “true co-creation platform, not simply a feedback forum.”

The expansion to Pacsun’s Youth Council indicates a change in direction. When Pacsun first launched the initiative in September 2025, known back then as Youth Advisory Council, it consisted of established creators including Anna Sitar, Teala Dunn and Melody Hurd, and announced alongside The Youth Report, a GlobalData-backed study of more than 6,000 respondents aged 11 to 24.

This year’s Youth Council is based on open applications, moving the initiative closer to a consumer panel with executive access and further away from an influencer roster. The shift in the Youth Council is in line with a wider pattern taking place, with more brands looking to create standing input channels rather than one-off campaigns, like Coach's &Coach platform which brings Gen Z creators and communities into brand storytelling.