Unapologetic and authentic: Coty, Estée Lauder and L’Oréal brainstorm the ‘gender freedom’ rise in beauty via Cosmetics Design Europe

Genderless and gender fluid have risen as beauty concepts over time, but gender freedom takes things further to capture and empower the hearts and minds of every
consumer identify, say leading beauty execs.

Last year, CosmeticsDesign-Europe spotlighted ‘Beauty for All’ as one of five beauty trends to watch across the EMEA region in 2021, driven by a consumer desire to flout dated labels and escape being pigeon-holed by meaningless marketing terms. In the same year, WGSN said ‘gender fluidity’ was a key driver behind the growth of five beauty ‘personas’ to watch in 2023, as consumers sought out hybrid and inclusive products that empowered total self-expression.

According to market insights specialist Beautystreams, these concepts were set to shift up a gear over the next five years into ‘gender freedom’. And in a dedicated expert panel discussion during last month’s Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna event in Italy, Michael Nolte, senior VP and creative director of Beautystreams, asked beauty leaders to shed light on why this ‘gender freedom’ movement was set to become so central