Yes, George at ASDA is a fast fashion brand. Its parent company, Walmart, is also a fast fashion brand.
George is a clothing sub-brand of supermarket giant ASDA, owned by US supermarket chain Walmart (owned by the white American Walton family, who are worth $200 billion). The George range itself is worth £1.75 billion and it focuses on selling clothes at supermarket prices.
In 2013, Walmart was one of the retailers associated with the Rana Plaza factory collapse. They later refused to sign an agreement to provide compensation to the families of the 1,134 garment workers who lost their lives, and the 2,500 people who were injured.
In 2006, Walmart was found to be sourcing from a Jordanian factory that committed child and adult labour abuses.
In 2020, Walmart stopped paying their garment factories, breaking contracts and causing many people to face unemployment and poverty. They are yet to rectify this.
In 2022, George at ASDA was found to be sourcing polyester from a manufacturer using Russian oil, despite having removed its products from the country in protest of the illegal war on Ukraine.
Transparency Rating: 28-34/100
Sustainability Rating: 2/5
This snippet is part of a larger guide to UK fast fashion brands, which goes into more detail about the issues with fast fashion, why it will never be sustainable, and how to make your wardrobe more sustainable.
Data for this review is taken from the brand’s website, corporate website, and Wikipedia. The Transparency Rating is from Fashion Transparency Index 2020. The Sustainability Rating is from Good On You.