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 youth brand, it’s something you’ll want to embrace and understand. It’s this very self-confident, hyper-individual generation who’re constructing their identity in fashion and makeup outside of their traditional gender buckets.” She listed Jaden Smith, who wears nail polish and skirts, for instance, noting that his penchant for accouterments designed for girls doesn’t necessarily indicate anything about his sexuality — it’s simply a matter of self-expression, which she said Gen Z is concerned with doing “any way they’ll.” These are usually not the drag queens of old.

Last week, Cover Girl announced its appointment of 17-year-old makeup artist James Charles as its first male faces. The brand actually isn’t the primary in beauty to handle gender neutrality this yr — Milk Makeup launched in January with a genderless approach; Anastasia Beverly Hills debuted its Moonchild Glow Kit campaign featuring male models decked out in prismatic highlighter; Sephora teamed with vlogger Patrick Starrr on a collaboration for its Formula X nail polish line, and Giorgio Armani released a variety of tinted lip balms “for him/for her” as a part of its fall makeup collection. And it’s just as much an element of the web world, too. Just this week, The Latest York Times covered “beauty boys” — male vloggers and YouTube stars who showcase their theatrical makeup skills for hundreds of thousands of followers.

Men wearing makeup will not be latest — Jean Paul Gaultier tried his hand at a makeup line for men within the Eighties — but an acceptance of it in consumer culture is emerging into the mainstream. “This concept of alternative, being whoever you desire to be — it’s something that is appropriate increasingly,” said art director Fabien Baron. “It’s just like the gay evolution within the Sixties and the Eighties. It’s the traditional continuation of what must have been happening a long time ago.”

“It’s something that’s existed for a very long time in a clandestine way,” said Debbie Harry of Blondie. “I kind of like things which can be undercover and funky, nevertheless it’s higher that we acknowledge what our possibilities are. We must always share that.”

And like many a beauty phenomenon, it has roots in fashion, with designers like Hood by Air, Vaquera and Gypsy Sport sending gender-neutral clothing down the runway, and powerhouse brands like Burberry and Gucci casting female models in its men’s wear shows. Gender issues have dominated the recent political and cultural climate as well, from Facebook introducing 56 latest gender options in 2014, to Caitlyn Jenner’s highly publicized transformation from male to female last yr, and Goal’s implementation of a gender-neutral bathroom policy.

Edward Bess, himself a Millennial and founding father of a self-named beauty brand sold at Bergdorf Goodman, echoed the sentiment that gender neutrality in beauty is a label issue, to not be confused with a sexuality issue, and noted that the younger generations, so used to being connected to what’s happening on the planet via social media, are throwing off traditional societal constraints. “We’re increasingly disinterested within the boring confinement of labels,” said Bess, who just launched Genre, a fragrance designed to be androgynous. And it’s not only the normal “man” and woman” labels that the younger generation is against. “The term ‘metrosexual’ has fallen out of fashion,” Bess said. “A man can wear bronzer now and never be labeled.”

Added Greene, “We’re in a state of flux with gender identity and sexuality and the way they interplay.”

Mazdack Rassi, founding father of Milk Makeup, formulated his makeup and skin-care line with an ethos inspired by the young downtown Latest York crowd hanging out and dealing at Milk Studios. Rassi’s products are designed to be up for interpretation as to who can wear them and the way they could be used. “We have a look at our products as paint, as fun,” Rassi said. “We wish to take the seriousness out of it.

“The concept is to make it a moot point,” he said of gender. For Milk’s initial campaigns, Rassi purposefully obscured the gender of a few of his models. “We have now boys who was once girls or ‘it’s possible you’ll have a look at a lady and think she’s a boy,’” Rassi said. “It’s taking the labels off. This latest generation doesn’t think it ought to be a subject, so it’s not price bringing up. We wish to focus on the people and the wonder there and what the product helps them do in life.”

“It was all the time vital to incorporate males in our beauty campaigns, and I’ll do it in the long run,” said Claudia Soare, president of Anastasia Beverly Hills. Soare grew up in the wonder industry and said she has all the time known men who wear makeup, particularly her mother’s makeup artist friends — and plenty of Anastasia customers in reality, are men. For Soare, the Moonchild campaign, in addition to an eyeliner campaign through which the brand featured male models, were simply ways to access her customer base. “It was vital to talk to them directly.”

For beauty brands which have historically addressed only women, the pressure to market to men is on, nevertheless it requires a tactful approach — brands can run the danger of being seen as just riding the wave of whatever is being discussed within the zeitgeist.

“Brands are being called out 1710389535 because they don’t reference things in a respectful way,” said Greene, noting the backlash to the dreadlocks used at Marc Jacobs’s spring show for instance. “The vital thing to remember is it may possibly’t seem inauthentic and fetishistic or some form of appropriation because this [generation] is very politicized and see through that if it’s not executed thoroughly.”

“In some ways it’s a validation for ‘everyone included’ and the opposite is a really daring flat-faced marketing initiative to indicate Cover Girl as edgy and relevant,” said Wendy Liebmann, chief executive officer of WSL Strategic Retail, of Cover Girl’s James Charles announcement. She noted that Cover Girl’s positioning of James Charles as its first male Cover Girl is in keeping with its diverse brand ambassador appointments up to now, like Ellen DeGeneres and Queen Latifah.

“It’s actually more culturally relevant than ever,” said Laura Brinker, vice chairman of influencer marketing at Coty. “It’s a culture of self-expression no matter gender that has been fueled by social media. As a mass brand, you may be very broadly appealing, so it’s vital that we’re on the forefront of those shifts so we are able to send a message to the wonder industry that that is the way in which we consider our business and types are evolving.”

Liebmann stressed caution in executing gender neutral marketing strategies. “It’s that balance between inclusiveness and legitimacy, that it doesn’t feel prefer it’s too industrial, that’s grounded in authenticity,” Liebmann said.

“Avoid tokenism,” warned one industry source.

Soare advised against “doing something for the shock value or to appear inclusive.” “You risk some backlash out of your customer and also you risk insulting people through the use of their lifestyle as an ad campaign,” Soare said. “Concentrate on what’s authentic to your customer — in case your brand caters to men a lot in order that you are feeling the necessity to acknowledge them in ad campaigns, you need to.”

Sam Cheow, chief product accelerator at L’Oréal, identified that the corporate already to markets to men in a subtle way, noting its “beauty for all” motto, and is preparing for a societal shift toward gender progressiveness with latest product developments and communications — a few of which have already manifested, corresponding to the Armani lip-care range.

He noted two trends percolating in product development. One is uniformization, which implies having a genderless positioning, and making products like lip balms that appeals to everyone or fragrance that’s unisex in its scent and packaging. He also pointed to hyper-specialization of products, or offering special kinds of coverage for various skin types. “The skin of a person is different [than a woman’s] and we’d like to get thinking about how we are able to make sure the coverage they need,” Cheow said. He noted that issues corresponding to hair removal for males transitioning to females, differences in skin texture and coverage needed will pave the way in which for brand spanking new area of interest categories in makeup. “In the following three to 5 years, there might be some really interesting products coming out.”