真正好的設計是不分性別的

As gender norms shift, ‘women’s brands’ are going after a new demo: men.

隨著性別常規(guī)的轉變，“女性品牌”正瞄準新的客戶群體：男性。

When designers Monica Zwirner and Lucy Wallace Eustice launched their women’s handbag startup, MZ Wallace, in 2000, they spent a lot of time pondering what they should call their new brand.

2000年設計師莫妮卡·茲維爾納和露西·華萊士·尤斯蒂斯在創(chuàng)辦她們自己的女士手提包公司MZ Wallace時，花了很多時間考慮新品牌的名字。

They considered following the path of many other American designers—Kate Spade, Tory Burch, Rebecca Minkoff—and simply using their own names. But they were worried that approach would make their brand sound overly feminine, something they wanted to avoid.

她們曾考慮效仿其他美國設計師，如Kate Spade(凱特·絲蓓)、Tory Burch(托里·伯奇)、Rebecca Minkoff(麗貝卡·明科夫)，用自己的名字為品牌命名。但她們擔心這種做法會讓她們的品牌聽起來過于女性化，而這是他們想避免的。

“Neither of us has a particularly feminine sensibility,” Zwirner says. “We think of ourselves first as a design company, and we think really good design isn’t gender-specific. We wanted to leave open the possibility of making men’s products in the future.”

“我們倆都沒有特別的女性敏感性，”茲維爾納說道。“我們認為，我們首先是一家設計公司，而真正好的設計是不分性別的。我們想保留未來生產男士產品的可能性。”

So they settled on a name they thought would read as gender-neutral: MZ Wallace. All of this forethought has paid off: Now, the brand launches its first men’s product line, officially called the Bleecker Collection, which includes duffels, messenger bags, and backpacks, and comes in black and blue camo.

于是她們選了一個自認為比較中性的名字：MZ Wallace。其先見之明得到了回報：如今該品牌推出了第一款男士系列產品，其正式名稱為Bleecker系列，該系列產品里有藍黑迷彩色的露營用品、郵差包和背包。

And unlike some of the brand’s counterparts, who have had to create entirely new brands for male customers (Kate Spade launched Jack Spade, and Rebecca Minkoff launched Uri Minkoff), MZ Wallace now sells both men and women’s products under the same brand.

不像同行中的其他品牌，MZ Wallace如今在同一個品牌下銷售男士和女士產品，而其他品牌則不得不為男性顧客創(chuàng)立全新的品牌，例如，Kate Spade推出了Jack Spade(杰克·絲蓓)，Rebecca Minkoff推出了Uri Minkoff(烏里·明科夫)。

Transitioning from a women’s brand to a unisex brand can be a smart business move, one that potentially doubles the size of your market. But it’s also tricky, thanks to deeply entrenched gender norms.

從女性品牌轉變?yōu)槟信ㄓ闷放苹蛟S是一項明智的商業(yè)舉措，因為這可能會使你的市場規(guī)模擴大一倍。但由于根深蒂固的性別常規(guī)，這也會很棘手。

While women tend to be comfortable buying and using products marketed to men, men have been historically less comfortable buying products marketed to women. MZ Wallace is among a very small group of brands (including shoemaker Malone Souliers, which is debuting its men’s line this fall, and Lululemon, which expanded into menswear in 2016) taking the bold step of asking men to shop with a brand previously associated with women.

雖然女性愿意購買并使用針對男性的產品，但男性一向不太愿意購買針對女性的產品。為數不多的幾個品牌大膽地邀請男士購買曾針對女性的品牌的產品，這其中就包括MZ Wallace，此外還有鞋業(yè)制造商Malone Souliers，該公司于今年秋季推出其男士系列產品，而Lululemon(露露檸檬)品牌已于2016年推出其男裝產品。

Their efforts show how society may be changing—but also how fraught gender dynamics can be.

他們的嘗試說明了社會可能在發(fā)生的變化，但同時也表明了性別動態(tài)或許很令人擔憂。