Posted by Shannae Slabber
on May 14, 2026
The Gender Neutral Gap: 5 min read
Walk into almost any kids' clothing store. On the left you'll find pink: florals, butterflies, and glittery words spelling out "Pretty". On the right you'll find blue: dinosaurs, trucks & prints saying "Brave". But what about the middle? Usually nothing. A gap where something more interesting could have lived.
We noticed it before Billie & the Fox existed. People with kids before us had mentioned it, we noticed it when buying our nephews & nieces presents, and eventually, even more so, as mums and/or mums-to-be. The more we looked, the harder it was to unsee.
It wasn't just the colours. It was the language. The way girl's clothes said dreamy and sweet and boy's clothes said wild and adventurous. As if kids had already been sorted before they'd had the chance to figure out who they were. As if the clothes were making the decision for them. The truth is, kids are never just one thing so why should their wardrobes be?
It started with Harper
Britt's daughter Harper was our first real product tester, even though she had absolutely no idea that's what she was signing up for (...to be fair, our husbands didn't realise they were signing up to be unpaid employees either). Watching her exist in the world as a tiny, chaotic, endlessly curious little human made one thing very clear: she didn't fit neatly into a category. None of them do!
She wants to wear the astronaut shirt AND twirl around the kitchen. She wants to get muddy at the park AND have an opinion about what she wears doing it. She's bold and soft and loud and gentle... usually all before 9am too.
So we kept thinking. Where are the clothes for the Harpers of the world? Not the version of her that fits a shelf label. The actual her. The equally brave, beautiful, wild, gentle & adventurous versions of her.
That question became the foundation of everything we've built.
What gender neutral actually means to us
Gender neutral doesn't mean beige. It doesn't mean shapeless. It doesn't mean stripping all the personality out of clothing in the name of being adaptable.
To us, it means designing for the kid. Not just an assumption about the kid.
It means a burgundy tee that a little girl wears to daycare and her baby brother inherits six months later. It means shorts in lilac and golden yellow - colours that feel joyful and considered, not default. It means graphic tees that reference the sky, the stars, and the feeling of possibility, rather than assigned interests.
Style has no limits. We love seeing boys sporting pink, and girls incorporating charcoals for added edge.
When we design a new piece, the question we always ask is: could any kid wear this and feel like themselves in it? If the answer is yes, we're on the right track. If not, we go back to the drawing board.
The push back (yes, it's real)
We'd be telling you half a story if we didn't mention this part.
Not everyone gets it straight away. We've had people ask us if we're planning to add a "girls' section." Or assumptions at markets that we're a boys clothing brand. Sometimes well-intended comments suggesting we're missing a market. And look... we understand it. People are used to the aisle. The aisle is familiar. The aisle has been there their whole lives.
To be clear, we're definitely not anti-dress. We both appreciate a cute dress and our kids will wear them, and love them - there is space for those too. But when it came to building a brand from the ground up, we wanted to focus our energy on the space that felt underserved. The gap in the middle.
There's a sustainability argument in there too and one we felt strongly about. A piece that can move between siblings, between friends, between whoever comes next, is a piece that gets a longer life. When clothes aren't locked into a gender, they don't get retired early. They get worn more, washed more, loved more. That longevity is part of why we made the choice we did and it's something we continue to think about with every single piece we design.
But here's what we've also seen: parents who are relieved. Parents who tell us they've been looking for exactly this. Parents who buy the Renegade Jeans for their daughter and the Supernova Set for their son and feel like they've finally found a brand that isn't making it weird.
That's the response that keeps us going.
So what did we find on the other side?
The other side is actually really good.
It's creative. When you're not designing to a gender template, you make more interesting decisions. You reach for unexpected colours, genuine references, details that feel considered rather than assigned.
And it's more honest. We're making clothes for kids who don't yet know what the rules are and we think that's a beautiful thing to protect for as long as we can.
The pink aisle will always be there and we don't want it to go anywhere, but we'll just be over here, doing something different.
With love, Britt & Shannae x
