Asda launches gender-neutral children’s clothing range

[Nordensost]

Asda launches gender-neutral children’s clothing range

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/3ce13aa3-c9ca-43e9-84f0-6b5292a73808?shareToken=65cfec1b8e0c194c62d283cb8b176d71

If there was genuine intent to offer more variety than the traditional pink and purple clothes for girls, and blue and green for boys, I'd applaud this.
But advertising it under the banner of diversity and inclusion? What fresh hell? Are these clothes for non-binary babies?

And why tf did the Times ask Debbie Hayton to weigh in? He's a male who writes about his sexual arousal when wearing 'women's' clothes. Isn't an AGP the last person you'd want to talk to about baby clothes?
I am beyond revolted by the Times right now. The Guardian looks moderate in comparison

It would be good to get back to how things were in the 70s where children’s clothes are concerned. My friends wore hand-me-down clothes from older brothers as well as sisters, unadorned or bejazzled outfits in nice colours. The pink/blue binary offering now is tiresome and causes extra expense for families and eventually landfill.

But advertising it under the banner of diversity and inclusion?

Where exactly is Asda doing this, please? I can see various quotes from unaffiliated people in the Times article, but I can't see anything from Asda or one of their employees which says "we're launching this to be more inclusive".

The page for the clothing doesn't seem to make any mention of it either.

https://direct.asda.com/george/collections/little-angels/D28M1136G1C1,default,sc.html

Items in the 22-piece Little Angels collection carry slogans such as “curious crew” or “happy crew” and are aimed at children from three months to four years.
What's a crew? Isn't that a form of gang slang? Or am I just old and out of the loop?

Debbie Hayton, a transgender teacher and writer, said: “Maybe I am getting old, but unisex clothing is nothing new.
“Especially for babies. It makes sense, especially if you have children of both sexes and want to pass it down.
“But they call it gender-neutral and they seem to think they have done something revolutionary.”

Stephanie Davies-Arai, director of Transgender Trend — a campaign group which professes that “no child is born in the wrong body”, said that the clothes line “looks like a return to the time when all we expected from baby clothes was that they were practical, comfortable and good value for money”.

Can't fault either statement tbh.

Asda will continue to stock “boy and girl-specific” clothing alongside its gender-neutral range, as well as its range for children with disabilities.
Can anyone enlighten me regarding the disability range?

"If there was genuine intent to offer more variety than the traditional pink and purple clothes for girls, and blue and green for boys, I'd applaud this."

I went into ASDA just yesterday, there was no pink/purple or blue/green anywhere - It was literally all beige/white/cream and very disappointing, So I'm a bit perplexed as to where this "need" is even coming from honestly as the clothes there weren't particularly "sexed" as it was?

The only colour I remember seeing that wasn't beige white or cream was I think one mustard sweater which could've been for either boys or girls!

EDIT; Perhaps my local store is just especially boring and beige! As after looking at the above PP's George link, they're a lot more bright and colourful - I wonder why in store is so dull but online isn't?

Can anyone enlighten me regarding the disability range?

https://corporate.asda.com/20230216/weve-launched-a-new-adapted-clothing-range-for-young-people-with-disabilities

Plus their easy-on school uniforms for those with sensory needs.

This looks like a great idea from Asda.

Thanks @Cazpar !

Triggered over nothing.

I got my daughter and nephew the happy crew tracksuit, this idea is more than welcome from me 😄

I'm all for sex-neutral clothing.
It is asking Hayton for his views on clothing for babies which has made me see red. He's an AGP.
The Times has lost its way.

the clothes look fine
good to see the adapted range too
well done ASDA I say

What in the name are "boy and girl-specific” clothes?!

I don’t see how they can claim to be the first supermarket to offer gender neutral kids clothes? Every supermarket sells basics like white babygrows, plain sweaters and jogging bottoms in black, navy, grey, cream, which are all gender neutral. Sorry but Asda is talking bollocks here.

What do you think they are?

It's usually about the quantity of fabric used, and the colours.

If you go to a random store and compare a t-shirt aimed at 4 year old boys with a t-shirt aimed at 4 year old girls, the girls' t-shirt is much more fitted.

Clothing for young female children is cut to make them look thinner and smaller. By contrast, boys' clothing is oversized, and cut to make the wearer look bigger.

Unfortunately they seem to be only for babies. What a shame.

Usually these days, little boys get dinosaur or super hero /combat terrorist gear. Little girls get the sweet kittens and other nice animals,and too many pinks and purples.

Has anyone seen the whole range? are there any skirts or dresses or are we making everything masculine?

I used to buy my kids a lot of clothes from Asda as babies and toddlers. Easy to find vaguely gender neutral clothes there. However now my eldest, DD is over 5 I find the clothes for that age are mostly rubbish in both boys and girls sections. Tops almost exclusively character pictures (loads of which she wouldn't even recognise) and girls sections almost every top is cropped. I just want some colours/patterned clothes in practical, normal lengths for my kids, I really don't think that's too much to expect. It's a shame the 'gender neutral' line won't do bigger sizes. I buy more of DD's clothes from Next nowadays instead as find they have a greater variety of nice and practical stuff in both boy and girl sections for over 5s.

Maybe I am wrong and they have gender neutral for older children too. I have only found the Little Angels one for babies so far.

It is most welcome.

Used to be known simply as unisex...

'Are these clothes for non-binary babies?'

Let me answer that one - no.

Obviously people can buy more neutral colours etc but I suppose it is nice for parents who want to avoid overly gendered baby clothes to know there is a selection where they can find that. But @spottedinthewilds does ask an interesting question as to whether it involves dresses or skirts... 'gender neutral' does tend to mean 'boy-coded' is presented as the neutral norm!

Yes, I think it's virtue signalling.

I used to love Mothercare's Little Bird range. Lots of red, white, yellow, blue and green. Just normal colours to suit any child.

And my younger child used to get his big sister's hand me downs, pink baby grows and all. He was a baby and cared not a jot! 😁

I used to dress them in unisex denim dungarees and matching red t-shirts.

She now gets his hand me down t-shirts, coats, trainers, swimming rash vests etc.

All retailers need to do is change their advertising and store layouts to make clothing ‘gender neutral’. Some girls want to wear navy t shirts with dinosaurs on whilst some boys want a sparkly pink t. Group all the clothing by item type and age then bobs yer uncle!

It's not a huge range. There's one dress and leggings set alongside dungarees, jumpers, trousers, baby gros etc

To me, these are totally run of the mill baby clothes in a range of normal bright colours. If Asda are claiming something special about them then that's a bit weird given how utterly standard these clothes are.

They look a bit dull too be honest. I used to love the boys section in h&m for more neutral but fun stuff for both girls and boys. My daughter wore a lot of the clothes I'd saved from her brothers as they were bright and fairly neutral. She was far harder on her clothes than her siblings so girly pastels didn't last two minutes.

I agree with others. How is this being marketed as something special. Having neutral options should be fucking standard.

When my teen was an infant/toddler they wore a huge range of colours and characters. Why did baby/children’s clothes ever become so ‘gendered’? When I showed my teen what mermaids was pedaling as Barbie and GI Joe, they were fucking horrified.

Shopping for baby/toddler clothes shouldn’t be this hard.