Customers and staff in Bradford have welcomed a supermarket chain’s Asian clothing range, thought to be the first of its kind on the high street.

The clothes, part of the George at Asda line, are a response to demand from the supermarkets’ customers for affordable authentic Asian clothing.

The 13-piece collection includes sequinned embellished salwar kameez (traditional suits), khurtas (tunics), dapata (scarves) and churidar (slim leg trousers).

Asda collaborated with a team in India to design the clothes and with authentic Indian material.

The store received input from a panel of customers and says the styles are suitable for all cultures, not just Asian customers, but is expecting to see a high demand before the Eid Islamic holiday.

Prices start from £7, with a complete suit for £26.

Noor Ali, of George at Asda Living store at Forster Square Retail Park in Bradford, said: “Customers are shopping for Eid now and shortly they will be shopping for Diwalli so this is the best time to launch this range. We see our range sitting alongside the independents and the family-run businesses. What we will be offering is a one-stop shop for our ethnic consumers.”

Shakeel, a customer at the store, said: “I really like the clothes and the mix of the East and the West and the choreography of the fashion show was good as well so I really liked it,”.

Fiona Lambert, brand director at George, said: “We are extremely proud to be launching the UK’s first mainstream range of traditional Asian clothing.

“We have the broadest socio demographic group of all the supermarkets and we wanted to offer affordable clothing suitable for all our customers. Our ethnic food ranges in Asda have seen a 46 per cent year-on-year increase during Ramadan and we’re expecting huge demand in the build up to Eid and Diwali celebrations.”

Asda’s parent company Wal-Mart also started a Bollywood-inspired collection in Canada earlier this year.

Wal-Mart Canada corporate affairs director Kevin Groh said: “We were blown away by the attention brought on by the launch of our range of South Asian influenced clothing – from industry watchers, to media, to our ethnic customers. Strong sales aside, the buzz and goodwill that continues to surround the line has been absolutely remarkable.”

Brianna Ragel, editor of Asian Woman magazine said the collection was “a turning point”.

She said: “It is exciting to see a well known high street retailer embracing ethnic cultures, and offering good quality authentic outfits at affordable prices. This definitely marks a turning point for ethnic clothing on the high street.”

The range went on sale yesterday at selected Asda stores, including those in Bradford, and on George.com.