Oliver above in a gender neutral charity tee from Liberty for the Kids Company.
My sons rock a vivid, bold, bright and patterned wardrobe, just as they are individuals, who love watching Tinkerbell as much as Thomas the Tank Engine, their wardrobe is diverse, striking and not restricted by gender.
Xander wears leggings, Oliver loves his patterned shirts and both boys always look super cool (in my biased opinion)!
Parents, like myself, all over the world want to liberate their kids’ wardrobes and let them wear what they like and about time too.
I want my children to feel free to express themselves as they wish and you’ll see pink, red, orange and yellow tees and shirts as much as blue, green and greys in their wardrobes from designer labels to high street stores.
I 100% welcome gender neutral clothing too, not just on the catwalk but for every store on the high street, not as a trend but the norm with kids wearing clothes that work for both boys and girls as well, it’s that freedom of choice to simply buy a football shirt for your daughter if you wish or just cute striped/polka dot/ printed tees and shorts/jeans for either gender.
One of my favourite stores, Selfridges were frontiers in embracing gender neutral clothes, with a shopping experience designed by Faye Toogood that merged men and women’s clothes.
This bold move has been named Agender and aims to be completely sexless and although the movement itself is being embraced more by women the men are following suit and pushing boundaries too.
Men often opt for skinnies made for women and male celebrities are regularly embracing women’s clothing (remember Beckham in a skirt). Hot.
And gender neutral kids clothing is really gaining momentum too…
Franchises such as Marvel are already bringing both genders together with films appealing to all children like The Avengers and spin off products, and Disney is also breaking away from its fairy tale princess ideal and creating realistic, 21st century protagonists in their narratives like Finding Nemo.
There are so many brilliant gender neutral stores online too.
You can already find great kids clothes deals at LamaLoLi that can be worn by either gender and although the site is categorized into boys and girls sections, there are no models wearing the clothing on offer on the product pages, allowing parents to make a gender neutral decision.
As designer Rad Hourani said (although he doesn’t design clothing for children sadly):
‘Who decided that a man should dress in one way and a woman in another? Who imposed these codes?’ and he couldn’t be more right.
Gender neutral clothing should be the future for kids clothes and let’s hope it is.
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