U.S. Leads the Way With Gender-Neutral Fashion

One of the movements taking center stage in both high fashion and on the high streets is gender-neutral clothing. Data collected in a survey in May/August 2022 by fintech company Klarna and Dynata found that as many as 36 percent of U.S. consumers had purchased fashion outside of their gender identity, followed by Sweden with 33 percent and the United Kingdom with 31 percent. 

Of the 11 surveyed countries, Poland and Italy were at the lower end of the spectrum, although still with 19 and 21 percent respectively. In Poland, even though the lowest share of people had actively purchased fashion outside of their gender identity, a high 82 percent had considered buying more gender neutral fashion. 

This movement is mainly being led by Gen-Z, who are more likely than older generations to view gender identity as a spectrum rather than a binary. When looking at the Gen-Z age bracket specifically, around 50 percent of online shoppers globally have purchased fashion outside of their gender identity, and around 70 percent of consumers say they are interested in buying gender-fluid fashion in the future.

According to the McKinsey & Company State of Fashion 2023 report that published this data, “This viewpoint will likely become more prominent in the market given that Gen-Z will soon become the largest cohort of consumers globally. (In the US, Millennials outnumbered Baby Boomers in 2019; Gen-Z consumers are expected to surpass Millennials in 2036)."