fbpx

While gender fluidity continues to be a hot topic in the fashion, entertainment, and beauty realms, the subject has brands, along with the rest of us, questioning our understanding of gender roles in the first place. What really constitutes masculinity and femininity, and how do we work with it? Should we eliminate the boundary between masculine and feminine as far as labels go? Create a third category for clothing and products that are neither traditionally masculine nor feminine, or embrace the divide fervently, but accept an individual’s choice to be one, the other, neither, or both?

On the fragrance front, brands are on board with the concept, but they’re responding in entirely different ways. Chanel’s first unisex fragrance, “Boy Chanel,” embraces the concept of masculine and feminine energies, and celebrates the merging of both. The question of which gender should wear it is entirely beside the point, according to the brand’s master perfumer, Olivier Polge.

Others have taken alternate approaches. Atelier Cologne has never implied a gender influence of any kind its fragrances, and Bottega Veneta’s Parco Palladiano collection (inspired by the Palladian gardens of Italy’s Veneto region), makes no effort to avoid gender labels in its scent descriptions, but pointedly leaves them out when it comes to who wears it—the entire collection is intended for everyone.

Click through the gallery for a look at some of the season’s latest gender-ambiguous launches, along with a few much-loved classics.

DISCOVER MORE