Shared Styles

With an iPhone and a new attitude, Gen Z is proving that the future of fashion is genderless

The Gucci gown featured on the December 2020 cover of American Makeup has reported that men account for 15 percent of its online clientele, Vogue certainly brought the drama. Greyish blue and billowing and that this number is rapidly growing. Similarly, customers identifying as like a storm cloud, black lace trim cut across its layered ruffles, male make up 7 percent of popular cosmetics brand M.A.C’s customer base. uniting the frock with the sharply tailored ebony blazer worn Makeup-wearing men have been present for a long time in rock’n’roll, over top. The person wearing this edgy ensemble wasn’t a supermodel, but it’s something different when the boy next door is wearing it, said John actress or influencer. In fact, it wasn’t a woman at all. It was Mr. Harry Demsey, the executive group president at Estée Lauder Companies, Inc. in Styles, a male singer considered by many to be one of the most eligible New York City. Demsey shared these views in a 2018 Business of Fashion bachelors in the western world. article about beauty for boys.

In the 127-year history of the highly influential fashion and lifestyle “Men are obsessed with hair products and fragrance, it’s just now that magazine, Harry Styles was the first man to appear on the cover by himself. the general audience is comfortable exploring what else is available for But this wasn’t what made it a controversial choice. No, this cover became them,” he said in the article. a hot-button issue because Styles stood on that cover spot rocking a dress. Fenty, Rihanna’s makeup brand, dropped a new line of skin products in

Harry Styles isn’t the first musician to blur fashion’s gender lines. Long 2020 that had no division between men or women, and in 2019, makeup before Styles, singers like David Bowie, Prince and the rock band KISS were mega-retailer Sephora released its “Identify as We” campaign celebratknown for wearing makeup and feminine-leaning looks. Today, musicians ing the trans and non-binary community. The ads promoted a community like Pharrell Williams and Jaden Smith regularly wear nail polish, Chanel "where diversity is expected, self-expression is honored, all are welcomed, jackets and ropes of pearls. and you are included." And these are just a few examples of recent makeup

Despite this history of musicians breaking the rules of gendered fashion, brands moving into the gender-neutral space. their influence rarely reached much further than their fanbase. Average When it comes to marketing cosmetics to Gen Z, this approach represents people were not dressing to emulate their idols because gender stereotypes the future of the industry, said Sam Cheow, senior vice president of corporuled their reality. Expectation still rate innovation and product development dictated that boys couldn’t wear at Estée Lauder, in a 2020 Harper’s Bazaar pink and girls had to look feminine. While fashion and beauty are “People don’t want to be defined article on genderless beauty. “Traditional male/female ideology is obsolete to this considered outlets for self-expres- generation of consumers.” sion, they also serve as a reinforcer of traditional gender norms. by what someone tells them is Social media’s non-binary style momentum isn’t just skin-deep – it’s also

So what does it mean when Harry about what everyone is wearing. The Styles wears a dress on the cover of Vogue? Does it make him any less of right for them or isn’t” dramatic increase in social media posts featuring gender-bending fashion have a man? driven the blurring of the binary lines in

Increasingly, the answer – among mainstream fashion. It has allowed for young people at least – has been no. widespread exposure to more progressive Though musicians may have planted the (non-binary) seed, Gen Z has ideals, leading to broader acceptance of these once-taboo topics. nurtured its growth. “Now somebody in a rural area can just log on to TikTok and see these “Gen Z has absolutely influenced the binary constructs around gender fashions,” said Ethan Lascity, fashion media professor at Southern identity and gender expression,” said Rob Smith, founder of The Phluid Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. “If you're experiencing people of Project, a gender-free clothing brand in New York City that’s known for its different genders or gender fluid individuals then the idea isn't totally community activism. foreign to you.”

Why does the fashion industry listen to Gen Z? The answer comes down In October 2020, Adidas opened a completely gender-neutral retail space to money. Gen Z is estimated to spend upwards of $140 billion in the next in London’s Soho district aimed to draw in Gen Z customers. To engage this four years, making it one of the most important customer sectors in fashion, demographic Adidas focused on inclusivity and sustainability, a decision according to a 2019 article on Commetric, a media analytics agency. Their driven by consumer research and feedback of younger staff members, said demand for gender-neutral fashion is behind what the article termed to be Chris Walsh, Vice President of Adidas UK, in a 2020 WindowsWear article “a seismic shift” in clothing design and marketing. on the opening. Instead of dividing items by gender, Adidas grouped them

Add to that the fact that Gen Z has grown up with smartphones in their by theme or sport, a merchandising decision driven by gender-neutrality. back pockets, and it becomes clear that social media is also a major contrib- “People don't want to be defined by what someone tells them is right for utor in the disruption of fashion and beauty norms. them or isn’t,” said Walsh in the article. “We just produce the best shoes

Whenever a gender-neutral fashion or beauty trend explodes on a social and allow people to adopt them however they want to.” media platform like TikTok or Instagram, Gen Z is quick to adopt it and Once limited to the stage, non-binary fashion and beauty trends are now bring it into the mainstream. becoming the norm, and Guaddarma believes there’s no going back. “The

“Technology has opened people's eyes and there's more freedom during future,” he said, will continue to be about “taking out all of the norms that this time, in terms of self-expression,” said Sergio Guadarrama, founder of society and fashion has reinforced.” Celestino Couture, an eco-conscious and fashion-forward clothing brand. Harry Styles may have been the first solo Vogue cover man, but it seems

And it’s not just clothes. Gen Z guys are also embracing cosmetics. Milk inevitable that he won’t be the last.