John Lewis, a high-end department store with locations throughout the United Kingdom, is moving toward gender neutral children’s clothing.
The store, which opened the doors to its first location in 1864, will be the first major retailer to remove gender labeling from clothes and in-store signage.
“We do not want to reinforce gender stereotypes within our John Lewis collections and instead want to provide greater choice and variety to our customers, so that the parent or child can choose what they would like to wear,” said Caroline Bettis, the head of childrenswear at John Lewis.
The changes have not yet been applied to their online store, johnlewis.com, nor to their school uniform department.
John Lewis will also be adding their own unisex children’s line featuring dinosaur and rocket ship prints. All tags will says “Boys&Girls.”
Of course, this decision has come with both praise and backlash. Apparently, there is concern that children and families will not know what to buy for their children without gender markers. Would it really be the end of the world if children picked out the clothes they liked without influence of who they are “supposed to” be for?
Here’s hoping that John Lewis will execute their gender neutral clothing line better than Target, who labelled their gender neutral clothing line with “Boys” and “Girls,” missing the definition of “gender neutral.” Take note, department stores worldwide, gender neutral is possible.
