March 2024

It’s a thing now: Young men are into makeup, and the industry goes where the boys are. Driven by hyper-connected Generation Z’s disinterest in gender identification, beauty brands wish to market with a gender-neutral approach. A report this yr by J. Walter Thompson’s The Innovation Group found that 56 percent of Generation Z knows someone who goes by the gender-neutral pronouns of “they,” “them,” or “ze.” Also they are rejecting the gender binary while looking for clothes — 44 percent said they only bought clothes restricted for their very own gender, and 70 percent support a move toward gender-neutral bathrooms. “[Gender] matters lower than it used to,” said Lucie Greene, worldwide director of the J. Walter Thompson Innovation Group. “When you’re a...