Hema stops labeling kids clothing "boys" and "girls"

From the end of this year, Hema is removing all gender indications from its children's clothing. In 300 of the 700 Hema branches, the children's clothing department will no longer be labeled "boys" and "girls", but simply "kids". Hema is the first Dutch retail chain to take this step, NU.nl reports.

According to Hema, the company is receiving more and more requests from young customers to make clothing more gender neutral. One 10-year-old girl asked Hema on Facebook for stronger girls' underwear, saying she doesn't like the ever present pink hearts. Hema is therefore also expanding its assortment to include more variation.

British department store John Lewis removed the "boys" and "girls" labels from its children's clothing assortment earlier this month. John Lewis took this step after the chain was recently under fire for "sexist" children's clothing. For example, the chain had Morrisons Tshirts on sale for boys and girls. The boys shirt read "Little man, big ideas", while the girl shirt said "Litte girl, big smiles".