John Lewis has introduced a ‘gender neutral’ clothing range for children.
The high street giant is now labelling its own brand, children’s clothes for “Girls & Boys” and “Boys & Girls.”
The genderless clothing is available from newborn to 14 years and includes trousers, jumpers and dresses with dinosaurs, toy soldiers and spaceships.
Caroline Bettis, the head of children’s wear at John Lewis said, “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.”
In a statement, the campaign group, Let Clothes Be Clothes said, “We believe John Lewis is the first high street retailer to remove its gender signs and labels.”
“It’s fantastic news and we hope other shops and online retailers will now move in the same direction.”
“A t-shirt should be just a t-shirt – not a t-shirt just for girls or just for boys.”
“Higher-end, independent clothing retailers have been more pro-active at creating gender-neutral collections, but we hope unisex ranges will filter down to all price points.”
“We still see many of the supermarkets, for example, using stereotypical slogans on their clothing.”
However, the initiative has been controversial, with some arguing that women and men’s clothes are still differentiated by gender and questioned why children’s shouldn’t be.
Conservative MP, Andrew Bridgen said, “I have no idea what would possess John Lewis to do this.”
“Boys and girls labels and signs are informative.”
“I think removing them could be very confusing for the consumer.”
“It appears political correctness continues to march and, whether it is going in the right direction, is a point for debate.”
“I cannot see many customers buying a dress for their six-year-old boy.”
Good Morning Britain presenter, Piers Morgan has also weighed in on the debate, saying, “I have three sons and one little daughter.
“None of my sons have shown any interest in wearing dresses, and my daughter wears 20 dresses a day.”
“Why can’t we let boys be boys and girls be girls?”
