Less than a year after its debut, PacSun’s gender-free category is taking center stage in the California lifestyle chain’s Summer 2021 campaign.
Chief brand officer Brie Olson said the company let the campaign’s young cast of influencers and models—including popular YouTuber Emma Chamberlain—choose their clothing and style themselves.
“We curated and styled our own looks for the PacSun shoot, and I found myself really gravitating to the gender-free selection,” Chamberlain said in a statement. “I’ve been feeling the same way at home, building looks from unisex pieces that I can change up with accessories based on how I am feeling.”
Items in PacSun’s gender-free collection include a button-down sweater, checkered jeans, sweatpants, tees, hoodies and shorts. The retailer’s broader summer lineup features indigo denim and a new Playboy tennis-inspired prep capsule for women and nylon cargoes, active shorts and crew neck hoodies for men.
“The campaign was really about shining a light on the future—featuring our gender-free line,” Calli Perez, PacSun’s creative director, said in a statement. “We wanted to bring creative people together and create something for the youth, really inspired by everyone that makes up the PacSun family.”
The California retailer dropped its new gender-free styles Wednesday, just over half a year after it first introduced the category back in September.
PacSun plans to expand its gender-free selection this summer with a new eco-fashion line called Color Theory. The cotton-based collection will feature relaxed staples, such as sweatpants and hoodies.
Predictive analytics and retail data platform Trendalytics recently dubbed gender-neutral fashion a “top market mover,” with 20 percent of new SKUS in the category out of stock. A report from the advertising agency Bigeye found further evidence of a breakdown in gender boundaries, particularly among younger consumers.
According to Bigeye’s research, less than half of female-identifying Gen Zers, 45 percent, said they primarily wore clothes designed for women—69 percent of all female respondents said the same—and 28 percent said they wore clothes designed for women or men depending on how they felt. Among those identifying as male, 71 percent of those from Gen Z said they primarily wore clothes designed for men, compared to 84 percent overall.
