Neutral Clothing Is Becoming More And More Popular Among Young People

Men's and women's fashions, which have dominated the fashion industry for more than a century, are undergoing aesthetic changes. In recent years, more and more brands have introduced the "asexual clothing" which blurs the traditional dress boundary between men and women.

MUJI, a Japanese clothing chain, plans to make 50% of the clothing (excluding socks) wearable for men and women as early as the spring of 2022, involving about 250 styles.

For the concept of asexual clothing, even if different people have different understanding and views, it seems that they can not prevent it from spreading from the small fashion circle to the mainstream market, and gradually become a trend of more and more attention.

　　 It's hard to find a boy friend when girls wear jeans?

The concept of asexuality in clothing is derived from "Unisex", which can be translated as "suitable for both men and women". The New York Times used the word in a 1968 story about "monster shoes with thick soles.".

For clothing, the clothing that blurs the gender boundary in the design, so that both men and women can freely choose and wear according to their preferences, is regarded as "asexual clothing".

In essence, there is no gender difference between cloth and clothes made from them. But since we began to choose our own clothing style, clothing is not only a piece of cloth used to cover the body, but also as an information carrier to convey the exclusive information of different individuals in gender, age, occupation, personality, class and so on.

The appearance of "asexual clothing" seems to make this part of the function of clothes out of order.

In 1968, when the word "Unisex" was published, a columnist in the Chicago Tribune described a common problem faced by "elders" in the "Unisex era" -- "boys or girls?" It's not asking about the gender of a newborn child, but asking your wife to identify the gender of an unknown object passing in front of you. And she doesn't know

The same bewilderment and perplexity also comes from Benjamin, a financial practitioner living in 2021“ Girls don't like their Unisex clothes. I prefer girls with long hair and short skirts, because it's a symbol of women, and it's pleasing to see them. " Benjamin's words are straightforward. He thinks that girls in T-shirts, jeans and sports shoes are "easy to find no boyfriends", if not unattractive.

　　 My clothes are up to me

The rise of "asexual clothing" reflects the rise of consumers' personal will. More young people no longer succumb to the traditional male or female dress concept, but choose the style they really like.

"To me," no gender "means freedom and practicality. I don't choose clothes because of my gender, but I feel comfortable For livnn, a female graphic designer from Shanghai, men's wear that pays attention to form and does not have too much fancy design is more in line with its own aesthetic orientation. This is also the characteristics of many non gender clothing on the market.

When the concept of "asexual clothing" was not popular in China, livnn could only buy clothes she liked in men's clothing stores“‘ The concept of "no gender" gives me a "step" for girls who like men's wear design. So that I don't need to have a strange sense of shame. " Livnn told Xiaguang.

For more general consumers, the reasons for buying Unisex clothing may also include "comfortable to wear" and "looking trendy.".

According to the 2021 trend clothing consumption trend report, consumers' pursuit of clothing comfort is no longer limited to materials and weekend scenes. The comfortable, free and fashionable oversize loose silhouette clothing is becoming more and more daily, especially popular among young people after 95.

Vivi, a female white-collar worker of Beijing Internet company, once bought a gender free brand clothing with the recommendation of a friend. Before that, she had never even heard of the concept of "no gender". She simply felt that the design of clothes was simple and the fabrics were comfortable, and the men's and women's clothes were more convenient for couples to wear.

"The store style is also cool, which makes me think that people who wear this dress will become fashionable." Vivi said more and more people no longer have strict gender distinctions in their dressing styles, and the "no gender" label will not affect their choice of clothes.

Clothing is no longer limited by gender, which is more obvious in today's young people. According to a survey conducted by J. Walter Thompson, an international advertising agency, as early as 2016, 56% of generation Z consumers are no longer limited to their own gender clothing when shopping. According to a Pew Research Center survey in 2018, 35% of generation Z and 25% of millennials believe that they prefer "neutral" pronouns to men or women.

Fashion trends are closely related to the evolution of social and cultural trends“ The popularity of "asexual clothing" is also due to the more diversified idol aesthetics in the entertainment age. More and more delicate flow of small students began to paint foundation, eyeliner, and even wear women's clothing; And do neutral dress up female star, often can get a wave of "super a" and "super Sa" praise on the network.

In China, it is Li Yuchun who leads men's fashion with female stars.

In 2005, Li Yuchun, a androgynous woman, became popular and won the title of super girl. As a "new idol" of "challenging Chinese tradition", Li Yuchun appeared on the cover of time magazine, setting off a great discussion among the Chinese public about "neutral style".

In 2020, in the talent show "youth has you 2", Liu Yuxin, who also takes the neutral line, won the championship with super high popularity, and is regarded as the new generation of "female top class". Favored by many businesses and fashion brands, she gained 16 brand endorsements in half a year after the competition.

If the "neutral" dressing of female stars is making the gender boundary in idol aesthetics more and more blurred, then the "more refined" flow fresh meat is reshaping the public aesthetic.

"I used to see those little fresh meats dancing on the stage with long and thin eyeliner or smoking makeup, and they were very uncomfortable. But over the past few years, it seems that I'm used to it, and I'm slowly accepting it. " Li Yun, a post-90s student majoring in gender studies at University, believes that men's gender confinement is stronger than women's, which is reflected in their dress, that is, people are more likely to accept women's "wearing men's clothes", while it is not easy to accept that men "dress like a woman".

In fact, it is not uncommon for male stars to wear "women's clothes". From Korean star Quan Zhilong to Chinese flow stars Wang Yibo, Cai Xukun and Zhou Zhennan, women's wear has been included in their daily wear.

In June this year, Wang Yibo was officially announced as the brand image ambassador of Chanel, a French luxury brand. Photos of Wang Yibo wearing Chanel women's clothes can be seen everywhere on the Internet, including not only various tweed coats, but also various women's dresses with lotus leaf collar and pearl design elements. Although Wang Yibo's dress was nicknamed by some netizens as a "woman's wear boss", fans on the other side insisted that he was "a man in Chanel".

　　 Women's consumption power not to be ignored

A more diverse and inclusive social environment has made both sexes jump out of the stereotype of "men's or women's wear"“ "Men's and women's style" clothing consumption in the trend market continues to increase.

Cbndata's "2018 trend culture development white paper" shows that the market growth rate of neutral style in fashion brands is as high as 340%, which is 2.5 times of the overall clothing market. Among them, the growth rate of female consumers in buying neutral style clothing is as high as 468%, which is twice the growth rate of male consumers.

Major clothing retailers are also catching up with this trend in recent years. - In 2016, Zara launched jeans, hoodies and shirts in the "gender free" series; In 2018, John Lewis removed gender labels from all children's clothing; In 2019, H & M and eytys, a Swedish Street brand, launched gender free clothing; In 2020, converse launched the gender specific clothing series shapes, while Gucci launched a more androgynous "men's skirt" in the same year, of course, which brought more "eye-catching" effects.

The concept of "no gender" has not only attracted the attention of "old brands", but also spawned the birth of a number of new brands focusing on the concept of "asexual clothing". For example, bosie, fmacm, ader error, vetements, nocao, nicerice, etc. are all Chinese local "asexual clothing" brands that have just emerged in recent years.

For some of them, making "asexual clothing" is not the "original intention" of the brand, but the result driven by market demand. Take bosie and nocao for example, they initially took the fashion brand men's clothing line, but in the sales process, the products were unexpectedly welcomed by a large number of female consumers, and even the number of female consumers who bought nocao exceeded that of men.

This unexpected discovery of the market, so that the brand immediately made a rational business judgment - to gender clothing, so as to start a business for all consumers.

The data also confirmed the purchasing power of female consumers in the trendy men's wear market. According to cbndata's "2018 trend culture development white paper", nearly 40% of the sales of trendy men's wear are contributed by female consumers. Among them, fashionable clothes, T-shirts and suits are men's wear categories with a higher growth rate of women's purchase, and women's trend consumers pay more attention to personality liberation.

The de gender clothing not only makes bosie, founded in 2018, achieve more than 100 million revenue in the first year, becoming the new brand with the fastest monthly sales of Taobao tmall men's wear, but also makes it attract the attention of capital.

Bosie has gone through five rounds of financing since its establishment. The most recent one was in November last year, which raised 200 million yuan through round a + and round B. At present, bosie not only operates online business, but also has opened 21 stores with a monthly revenue of 500000-1000000 yuan. In 2020, bosie's sales will exceed 300 million yuan.

　 Does asexual clothing become a "smart" choice?

Compared with "new fashion brands" like bosie, for MUJI products of "old chain stores" which have declined in recent years, "asexual clothing" not only represents the trend, but also is the "high cost performance" choice to save the decline.

According to the financial report released in recent years by Muji's parent company, from February 2018 to February 2020, the total revenue of Muji project has maintained a growth of about 7%, but the business * * continues to decline, with the operating rate dropping from 12% to 8.3%. Affected by the global epidemic situation, from February to August last year, the operating rate of the good products program dropped to 0.5%, and its clothing related inventory had been overstocked by nearly 40 billion yen.

At the beginning of this year, liangpin has launched 25 "gender free" products such as Parka in spring and summer. At that time, the relevant person in charge said that the product sales momentum is good, and hope to increase the number of goods as soon as possible.

Recently, Muji announced that 50% of the clothing "gender free" design would be realized in the spring of 2022. Muji said that it hoped to meet the consumer's awareness of pursuing diversity through products regardless of gender. At the same time, the company can also reduce the number of goods to reduce inventory and improve efficiency. Moreover, it will greatly save the cost of clothing design, procurement, production, marketing and other links due to the fact that there is no distinction between men and women.

It seems that "asexual clothing" is not only in line with the trend of contemporary fashion, but also a time-saving and labor-saving and efficient choice for clothing merchants. But in the long run, it is difficult to predict the market space and consumer acceptance. One of the questions is whether "asexual clothing" will lose the male consumers who originally bought "men's wear" while attracting female consumers?

Finally, on the topic of "will we try Muji" asexual clothing, let's take a look at the different views of several interviewees:

　　LIVNN：

Willing to try, I pay more attention to the clothes themselves. I feel that "gender free" is a spirit of branding. In such stores, of course, there is a greater chance to choose the clothes I want.

　 Li Yun

Should not try, I do not like Muji's "cold" style. Although I think gender equality means wearing what I want to wear, I still like to wear more feminine clothes. On the one hand, I really like the feminine style of dressing. On the other hand, because clothes are often worn for others to see, there are many factors to consider. I read about gender studies, but I still can't break the traditional framework.

　　Benjamin：

For reasons of avoiding suspicion, I won't buy it. I only buy clothes that say "men's wear.". Because "no gender" actually means that there are some female elements in clothes. Since I am a straight man, why should I buy "sexless" clothes?

There is injustice to women in society, and we must promote equality between men and women, but this is not reflected by clothes, but through mutual respect. I think the main consumers of "asexual clothing" should be women who are eager for identity or equality between men and women. I also support women to wear asexual clothes, but can't accept men wearing them. Maybe in a few hundred years, men can wear skirts every day, but not now.