Gen Z have a new version of the Millennial ‘duck lips’

Gen Z continue to subvert norms perpetuated by Millennials, with debates over crop-tops and crew socks still raging and the disparity in their willingness to get a driver's license.

Other key differences include: swapping the painful phenomenon known as the ‘Millennial pause’ for the ‘Gen Z shake’ as well as the recently coined ‘Gen Z stare’.

Now, it appears that people born between 1997 and 2012 are changing the face they pull for photographs; no longer wanting to exaggerate their pout for social media clout.

If you’ve ever scrolled on a Kardashian’s Instagram feed, then you’ve probably come across one of the businesswomen pushing their lips outward and upward in what is commonly referred to as ‘duck lips’.

This Millennial favourite was once everywhere, with Miley Cyrus, Tyra Banks, and other A-listers all pulling out the pose at one point during its height.

The Kim Kardashian-approved duck lips have been swapped for another photographic pose (Instagram/@kimkardashian)

However, the photographic facial expression has largely been phased out and replaced with what has been dubbed ‘the Platypus Pout’.

The pose, favoured by various Gen Z celebrities, including Barbie actress Ariana Greenblatt and Lily-Rose Depp, is described as a ‘sharper, sassier selfie look’ than the original duck lips.

Despite being born in 1995 and qualifying as a young Millennial, The Moment's Rachel Senott is also leading the charge, The New York Times reported.

Lily-Rose Depp and other celebrities have been using the Gen Z 'Platypus Pout' in selfies and on the red carpet (Instagram/@lilyrose_depp)

This modern variation, designed to be a moodier, more relaxed version of its stalwart older sister, can be practised by exenuating the top lip and keeping the sides of the mouth neutral or turning them down into a frown, as per PureWow.

Despite the recent trend, the Platypus Pout has been cropping up on red carpets and on Instagram-friendly selfies since 2022, with i-D magazine’s Rayne Fisher-Quann being one of the first to call it out.

The moodier Platypus Pout can be achieved by extenuating your upper lip (Instagram/@kyliejenner)

At the time, the journalist wrote that the ‘dissociative pout’ was designed to ‘look as though you just happened to be photographed whilst contemplating your abject disaffection with the world around you’.

As the younger generation continues to grow away from duck lips, we cannot ignore that injectables, including lip fillers, continue to be popular among this age group.

Last year, experts said they were ‘concerned’ to learn that one in five 18 to 25-year-olds had some form of filler or Botox injected into their skin, as per an ITV survey.

Many British denizens think of injectables as necessary as hair cuts and manicures, a survey found (Getty Stock Image)

“Fillers have been consistently popular amongst that age group throughout the last ten years,” said Ashton Collins from Save Face, a group pushing for better industry standards.

“These are treatments that can cause permanent disfigurement, blindness, even death if injected wrongly.”

As per Vice, 59 percent of a 51,000-person survey said that they viewed procedures like getting lip fillers in the same light as getting their hair cut or having a manicure.

“Because of that, they have no expectation to see a healthcare professional or to understand that Botox is a prescription-only medicine,” Ashton implored.

“They tend to opt for cheaper providers, where there’s no informed consent and no aftercare.”