Walmart Launches Free Assembly Kids Clothing Line

Walmart on Friday (Oct. 1) announced that it's launching the Free Assembly Kids collection, a little more than a year after rolling out the affordable apparel line for men and women that includes Scoop, Sofia Jeans by Sofia Vergara and ELOQUII Elements.

“At its core, Free Assembly is all about delivering approachable designs, quality fabrics, modern silhouettes and fashion-forward details,” wrote Deanah Baker, SVP of men’s, kids and shoes for Walmart U.S., in the company blog post announcing the Free Assembly Kids line launch.

The new collection includes almost 50 styles in sizes 5–18 priced between $6–$36. It “offers foundational wardrobe staples with all colors, prints, fabrics and silhouettes designed to work together,” Baker wrote in the blog post. “We designed Free Assembly Kids to seamlessly complement our adult collection with many of the above trends, like athleisure, plaid and cropped silhouettes, being explored in our latest drop for men and women as well. Just like the adult line, Free Assembly Kids is made with a commitment to sustainability – several pieces in the fall collection include organic cotton or recycled polyester.”

Walmart recently introduced a new assortment of Justice clothing for tweens and Wonder Nation apparel for kids in sizes 4–18. Free Assembly Kids joins the largest American retailer’s assortment of children’s clothing, and will feature seasonal collections throughout the year.

Related: Amazon, Walmart See Sliding Shares of Apparel as Style Returns to the Forefront

Amazon and Walmart have both seen their shares of the clothing and apparel category slip for the past two quarters, according to PYMNTS' proprietary data released last month. Consumers have been choosing more stylish and trendy retailers to refresh their wardrobes as they have emerged from the COVID-19 quarantine of most of 2020.

Amazon dipped from 18.4% in Q4 of 2020 to 14.4% in Q1 of 2021 to 13.2% in the second quarter of this year. Walmart, meanwhile, went from 8.2% to 7.0% to 6.5% in the same timeframe.

Both Amazon and Walmart saw their shares of apparel sales jump in 2020, as consumers steered toward comfortable clothing rather than high fashion.