But why is this trend happening? “People no longer want to be labelled whether its gender, age, ethnicities and instead want to be recognised for their individual wants and taste,” says Melissa Hago, vice president of beauty at trend forecaster Fashion Snoops. “We are seeing this in all categories, fashion, beauty, and now in fragrance.” According to her, consumer demand comes from Generation Z who is calling for more options while also championing gender fluidity.
— Read more in Smells Right: Why Fragrance Is The Next Step In The Gender-neutral Frontier at Dazed Beauty.
Interesting! and a good reminder that I would like to sniff Mémoire d’une Odeur. I’ve always felt all scents are for everyone. If it smells good it is good so wear it and enjoy.
At the same time, the idea that societal expectations of what smells masculine and feminine are so ingrained, implied, assumed. So I like the feeling I get from wearing the feminine and pink Guerlain Insolence as much as I enjoy wafting a trail of the masculine Dior Eau Sauvage, which feels a little subservisive too. 😀
I think on the one hand, yes, they are ingrained and assumed, on the other, I think there are TONS of fragrances that people would guess the gender wrong if they didn’t know the name or see the bottle!
I look back to when generation x was being sold alot of aquatic and sporty perfume. I guess they came about because not enough of us were buying the big eighties stuff ? With a few exceptions, I never gravitated to what I was supposed to want to smell like. Polo Sport on me was more like Polo Poseur. In the end, perfume is very personal. I liked the new Gucci, I do think though, that the bottle is the reason I tried it,and made me want to like it. Idk… lot’s of thoughts going on in my head about this article, so I will quit rambling.
I like the new Gucci too, and agree about the bottle!
I’m not convinced. That seems like an awful lot of words that say very little to me.
I like that they’re deliberately marketing a unisex frag in a femme-of-center bottle, but other than that I don’t actually see anything interesting happening here, marketing-wise? Unisex fragrances aren’t news, and you’re going to have to try a lot harder than a slightly woodsy floral and a marketing campaign featuring a pop star who doesn’t actually (publicly) identify as queer before I’m going to believe that you’re listening to the things gen Z is saying about gender.
I suppose I should add that I didn’t get into perfume until I discovered that I actually really loved men’s fragrances. It took me another year after I got to the “need to use excel to organize my sample notes” stage to be interested in trying mainstream women’s fragrances again, so I have very little patience for gendered marketing in the first place.
An awful lot of words that say very little is pretty much the definition of beauty writing, seriously. This is about the 5th article I’ve seen lately explaining why there are more unisex mainstream fragrances.
Wasn’t CK One supposed to be gender neutral way back in the 1990’s?
Yes, but it is definitely true that more mainstream brands are trying unisex at the moment.