Fast fashion labels ride e-commerce boom

In February, one month before its first-year anniversary in China, Old Navy served as a sponsor of China's annual New Year's Eve gala.

This was a huge entertainment event that Chinese families watched together during the vacation period. Gap, its trendier sister brand, was also a sponsor.

"It was a promotion where Old Navy gets mentioned and you shake your phone and marketing and campaign messages appear," said Mike Barnes, Old Navy's general manager for greater China.