I just read an interesting article on Yogadork about Hip Hop mogul Russel Simmons and PETA writing an open letter directly to Lululemon requesting they stop using down in their insulated jackets, along with a petition for people to sign. This petition stood out to me because his ex wife, business partner and mother of his children (and still close friend), Kimora Lee Simons currently sells fur vests and lambskin on her site - despite herself also being aligned with PETA. Sheerling jackets priced at $2900. Kimora Lee Simmons was the brain behind those velour track suits from the 90's and early 2000's that every young woman had to have her brand which she co founded with Russel Simmons, Babyphat which is now sold at Macy's. The original athleisure trendsetting brand was in fact Baby Phat. My point of this post isn't to debate the use of fur or down, but rather to point out the celebrity hypocrisy. I'd also like to state that I am all for Lululemon offering none down insulated jackets along side of down jackets to give vegan customers an option. I wasn't a fan of their blended prima loft and down jackets a few years ago in 2013 because I felt if they were going to go prima loft route for jackets, they should be purely prima loft and down free as a vegan option.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on Russel's letter and perhaps a healthy respectful debate in the comments is ok as long as we keep it light.
Here is the letter:
December 15, 2015
Mr. Laurent Potdevin CEO, lululemon athletica
Via E-mail: lpotdevin@lululemon.com Dear Mr. Potdevin,
Since I'm an avid yoga practitioner, lululemon athletica is one of my favorite places to shop. I was disappointed, though, to learn that some of your brand's outerwear contains down feathers. On behalf of my friends at PETA and your many compassionate customers, I encourage lululemon to switch to cruelty-free synthetics instead.
No matter how the feathers are obtained, gentle geese are violently killed (some even have their throats slit while still fully conscious), thereby going completely against the philosophy of ahimsa that I and many other lululemon customers embrace. When there are so many cruelty- free options, such as Thinsulate, Climashield, and PrimaLoft, which are all warm, cozy, and environmentally friendly, there is simply no excuse for selling down.
Switching to synthetics also makes good business sense: A study by Nielsen found that most global online consumers are willing to pay more for products that come from socially and environmentally responsible companies, and a study by the Brookings Institution found that 89 percent of millennials want to buy from companies that support solutions to specific social issues.
Switching to animal- and eco-friendly synthetics would be a simple but important way for lululemon to help geese and show customers that it cares. Will you please make this progressive switch? Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Russell Simmons
Mr. Laurent Potdevin CEO, lululemon athletica
Via E-mail: lpotdevin@lululemon.com Dear Mr. Potdevin,
Since I'm an avid yoga practitioner, lululemon athletica is one of my favorite places to shop. I was disappointed, though, to learn that some of your brand's outerwear contains down feathers. On behalf of my friends at PETA and your many compassionate customers, I encourage lululemon to switch to cruelty-free synthetics instead.
No matter how the feathers are obtained, gentle geese are violently killed (some even have their throats slit while still fully conscious), thereby going completely against the philosophy of ahimsa that I and many other lululemon customers embrace. When there are so many cruelty- free options, such as Thinsulate, Climashield, and PrimaLoft, which are all warm, cozy, and environmentally friendly, there is simply no excuse for selling down.
Switching to synthetics also makes good business sense: A study by Nielsen found that most global online consumers are willing to pay more for products that come from socially and environmentally responsible companies, and a study by the Brookings Institution found that 89 percent of millennials want to buy from companies that support solutions to specific social issues.
Switching to animal- and eco-friendly synthetics would be a simple but important way for lululemon to help geese and show customers that it cares. Will you please make this progressive switch? Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Russell Simmons
23 comments
Opening Statement:
Laurent Potdevin - Lululemon Athletica Inc - CEO
Laurent Potdevin - Lululemon Athletica Inc - CEO
Good morning, everyone. The results we are sharing with you today are beginning to reflect the ongoing work that is being done across our entire organization, and our sales and bottom line for the quarter finished slightly ahead of plan. We are early in the process of getting back to consistently delivering amazing and innovative product to our guests, along with unmatched guest experiences. We obviously don't aspire to flat same-store sales and earnings that are down year-over-year, and yet are confident that work and investments we are making is building the foundation that will fully unlock Lululemon's long-term global potential.
On our last call, I let out four key priorities, product, brand, guest experience, and international expansion, and our second quarter results indicate consistent progress against those priorities. On the product front, product flows were (inaudible) forth in our sales trend in the second quarter. his was particularly evident in July, as we changed into additional trends in bottoms, and leveraged our fast turn team to create mesh product, which brought newness and excitement in stores and online.
Additionally, our transitional collection which was a new strategy to bridge summer and fall was incredibly well-received by our guests, and created the upside we saw in July by selling through faster than anticipated. While our assortment are not optimal this year, we have started to shift our mix with further improvement expected in 2015.
We have also emphasized our commitment to building our foundation over the next 18 months, in order to set ourselves up for global growth.One of these foundational areas to strengthen is our go-to-market process, and although it's still early, we are hitting each milestone in the implementation of the calendar that we have set to achieve. At this time, we have completed the [cadence] of the calendar, resulting in four additional weeks of creative space for our designers, as they start the design of fall 2015.
This past quarter, our Whitespace workshop has started partnering with our ambassadors on three different fronts. First, co-creating innovative technical and beautiful product with a small group of early ambassadors.
Second, gaining a deep insight into the athlete/product relationship, and third, testing and validating product development in upcoming launches.The information we derive from our workshop projects, combined with the world-class product engine will drive the innovation that our guests love.
Moving on to brand and guest experience. On our last call, I spoke about one of our most unique yet under leveraged asset, our 1,500 strong army of ambassadors. These athletes are leader in their communities, they embody our lifestyle, and reflect our amazing culture in everything that they do. They are the authentic voices in our communities, whose local stories and insights are shifting our global brand, and we are committed to building and nurturing this group of inspirational athletes.
One of the ways, we are harnessing the collective power of this group is through the online ambassador forum we recently launched. Through this forum, more than a thousand of our ambassadors are collecting and sharing feedback with each other, the Lululemon store, and the product and Whitespace teams here in Vancouver.
Our SeaWheeze half marathon event in Vancouver, which brings together running, yoga and community, was once again a tremendous and inspiring success, and we are thrilled to see our annual event become such a sought after destination. We hosted more than 10,000 runners, 70% of whom were from outside of Vancouver, and 50% are from outside of Canada. In fact, registration for 2015 took place yesterday, and sold out in 36 minutes. This event truly embodies the spirit of Lululemon, and we are rollingout locally relevant experiences in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto from October through December that will reflect that same spirit.
This year, the SeaWheeze event took place on the heels of the opening our flagship Robson store in Vancouver, a beautiful 4,500 square foot space featuring in-store digital storytelling, dedicated space for mens and women, and onsite product personalization. This new space serves as an example of the directions we are taking, with similar openings scheduled to take place in Miami and Santa Monica in the next quarter.
The store opening was supported with community events that truly showcase the engagement that currently exists among our guests. The store performance in its opening week performed at 141% to plan, which was the highest volume store globally, reaching a18% penetration in mens sales, the highest in North America.
To further elevate our guest experience and global brand awareness, we are relocating our Soho store in New York and opening both mens and women's standalone locations kitty-corner to each other on [Prince] and [Wooster], with the mens location opening by late fall 2014. This will provide unique experiences for both men and women in spaces that are designed uniquely for their needs. I look forward to seeing how these two stores build a steady partnership, while still making sure to one-up each other every now and then.
Once again, the Ivivva business performed very well, with a positive comp of 36% this quarter. We recently launched a dreams and goals program for all our stores and showrooms to connect with our young guests, and we are incredibly excited about the potential of this growing brand. And we continue to invest in our infrastructure to support our goals.
We made significant headwinds in improving our online guest experience by opening another distribution center to improve the service level to our guests by delivering product faster. The distribution center is located in Columbus, Ohio. Our new guest order management system went live on July 11. This is a major pillar in our one guest omni-channel strategy, enabling efficient routing of orders among all distribution centers. And this quarter, our back backroom app which allows us to process sales in-store from our onlineinventory created incremental opportunities, and enhanced the experience for our guests by giving them access to a broader product selection.
Moving on to our international expansion. We are seeing continued demand in brand strength globally, with our London store continuing to perform strongly, and we look forward to opening our second store in Chelsea by December 2014. We are on track to build a network of showrooms in both Europe and Asia through 2014 and 2015, and by the end of 2017 to have 20 stores in both regions. And we are very happy to announce that we have secured a fantastic location in Singapore in the Ion Mall, and are on track for a Q4 opening.
We are also in the final stages of securing our first location in Hong Kong scheduled to open early 2015. On the heels of the successful opening in London in the spring, and a continuation of strong demand and performance, we continue to look to opportunities to accelerate market entry into other regions, including being in discussions with a potential partner in the Middle East to enter the regions by Q4 2015.
Before I turn the call over to John, I want to mention that we are all looking forward to having Advent back as a shareholder. Advent was an early investor in Lululemon, and David Mussafer and Steve Collins were both instrumental in helping to guide our growth in the early years. We look
forward to having their guidance once again, as we write the next Lululemon chapter.
Earlier, I wrote a post about how Lululmon's latest upload of mesh lab designs are almost identical replicas to another brand called Nesh NYC which already had their versions online before Lululemon uploaded them. A reader just sent me this article, Lululemon Patent Troll discussing Lululemon's aggressive pursuits for patents on some of their designs Lululemon Patents, and litigation against brands with similar designs. As an avid customer of Lululemon, I am glad they are filing patents on their designs and IP partnerships on some of their more interesting materials (read this article here about a recent Kick Starter campaign using Lululemon's Silverscent). It means I wont see a cheaper version of the item I have just purchased and it also means my items will sell well when I decide I want to upcycle them on ebay. It is unlikely that Lululemon will patent luon as a material as it is more commonly known and used as 'supplex'. For real, that is all it is. With patents and IP's my investment as a consumer is protected, and it pushes other brands as well as Lululemon to innovate rather than copy. I am rather annoyed to see some of the items Lululemon is putting out, for example the Nesh NYC inspired designs uploaded tonight, and Michi inspired from several weeks ago (tech mesh tights), are almost exact replicas. Nesh NYC is a much smaller and new start up company. Does this mean that because Nesh has not filed a patent that Lululemon now will? Why not just hire those talented designers? Perhaps Hanesbrands who is pushing back on Lululemon's cease and desist letter by arguing that the No Limit Tank should never have been awarded patent will help fund some of these smaller brands in their litigation. All of this is quite unprecedented in the fashion industry and so I am very interested to see how this goes. As stated, on one hand I am pleased to see lululemon is fiercely protecting their designs and innovation, on the other, competition is the greatest motivator (or regulator).
Some items that Lululemon has a patent on are:
Speed Shorts, sleeve cuffs/thumbholes, hoods with poney tail holes, their new towel mat, Keep on Running Duffel, Run: Inspire Jacket (do they intend to bring this one back??)
Speed Shorts, sleeve cuffs/thumbholes, hoods with poney tail holes, their new towel mat, Keep on Running Duffel, Run: Inspire Jacket (do they intend to bring this one back??)
Lululemon's new &Go capsule is featured in Glamour Magazine The collection (crop top, high waisted shorts, high waisted skirt, tank, blouse and dress) will be available online in early June.
I was a bit bored today and really don't want to post any more Club Dress/Hot Hitter pictures since they are way overloaded on my facebook feed and I'm not loving the tennis or the golf capsule very much. Instead, I've been reading some fashion blogs this weekened and browsing instragram looking for inspiration and it struck me how much of the Spring 2014 New York Fashion Week trends that Lululemon has been emulating closely. I don't think I've ever noticed before just how closely Lululemon trends follow high fashion trends until this season. Usually they follow some general idea of what is trending and you will see Pantones color of the year in the palettes used, but its never been quite this literal.
I'm not a fashionista AT ALL, and tend to wear the same comfortable things over and over again without considering what sartorial statement I'm making, but for some reason I am fascinated by fashion trends and how they trickle down the line from high end brands to the brands I buy (Joe Fresh, The Gap, J Crew, Aritzia) and so wether we knowingly participate in fashion or not, we end up wearing whats 'on trend' eventually as it trickles down the line to the stores we shop from. I follow a hand full of local fashion bloggers just to see what interesting outfits they put together (To Vogue Or Bust, Alicia Fashionista, Bleed For Fashion, Guest Etc.) and hopefully develop some small sense of style of my own within my comfortable uniform of Lululemon items, Jeans/Tees as I get inspired by these creative bloggers.
Marble Print
I know a lot of readers joked that Petite Fleur looks exactly like a lot of our granite counter tops, but the print seems to follow closely with the whole marble print trend and so its quite deliberately meant to look like our counters...if only my counters where actually marble.
Romantic Florals
Romantic florals are so big this season, especially large scale contrasting bright florals and not the itty bitty demure florals. A lot of you are suffering from Secret Garden overload but I'm loving it just a little bit more each time I see it. I think its the teal blue contrasted with bright pinks that are doing it for me.
Pineapple Print
This one I had no idea about. When Lululemon came out with their embossed Pineapple printed Wunder Unders I literally thought it was an after thought "what can we possibly do to update all of these black luon legging overstock. I know, PINEAPPLES!". Then I saw a few fashion blogs post about how big the pineapple print trend is and then it all made sense. Especially when I saw that the Pineapple pants were going for big $$ on ebay much to my surprise. The whole Hawaiian tropical print trend featured prominently on runways but the standout was the Pineapple.
Bomber Jacket
A lightweight version of the Bomber Jacket in lux silky material seems to be everywhere these days. Lululemon came out with the Om me Home Jacket back in Spring 2013 with Very Green, and now its made a comeback in the tennis capsule in Secret Garden.
Sporty Chic Dress
Lululemon has now made two versions of the Sporty Dress, the Here To There Dress from their &Go Capsule, and the Club Dress as part of their Tennis Capsule. The dress on the left is Victoria Beckham Spring 2014.
DKNY
I felt like I needed to write a specific post about this wonderful new printed luon that Lululemon is using. The quality is amazing and I actually don't remember the last time I saw a printed luon that was not polyester, sheer and shiny looking. Seriously, back in 2010 (during the 'good quality' period) when the Unicorn Tears and Black Roses Print print came out, they were polyestery, thin, sheer and shiny which is why printed Wunder Unders had never even been a consideration for me. From 2010 to 2013, Luluelmon (or its manufactures) really seemed to rely on polyester blended fabrics and very lightley woven luon which I believe was the main contributing factor to the sheer pants issue. I'm excited that Lululemon has come up with a knew denser knit for their luon bottoms. I believe these four prints shown below are all this denim texture which is 70% Nylon, 18% Polyester and also in a very dense higher gauge weave. I also really loved the material used on the WAFS Fatigue and Vintage Pink, as well as the Parallel Wunder Unders which is not denim but is 87% Nylon 13% Lycra Spandex and completely opaque. Did any of you check out the new Bali Breeze Cool Racerback? Its THICK and SOFT! They are hitting it out of the ballpark with the luon these days.
One of the problems they are having these days is inventory allocation and popular items being limited to one market, ie. Canada online, Canada stores, US online, US stores instead of being evenly distributed between all locations - many times products being online only. This, as well as the popularity of the products, is creating a sort of frenzy and frustration with the customer base which is scurrying to find product via angels or ebay. I believe the reason for this strange allocation is because Lululemon is in the process of transitioning to new manufacturers (whoever is creating this new great luon), and I think it is a short term problem and not part of an artificial scarcity strategy they will be keeping around. Product allocation is a problem which I hope stabilizes soon, but I can no longer say that they are having the same quality issues that reached its pinnacle this time last year. I think they have changed their luon recipe for the better, integrated new manufactures, and also put people in place for stringent quality checks at the source and I'm really excited to see what's to come. Just last night I was thinking how January - March is typically a low interest time for me with Lululemon designs, but I've been very interested in the colors and designs that have been coming out this month.
What are your thoughts on the new luon? Have you noticed the improvement? Are you more excited about the product lineup now then you are normally during February?
Chip Wilson is stepping down as chairman of Lululemon Athletica Inc., a decision made about a month after he touched off a controversy by suggesting that women’s body shapes were to blame for the chain’s problems with its black pants.
At the same time, Lululemon is naming Laurent Potdevin (from Toms Shoes most recently, Louis Vuitton, and Burton Snowboards), a veteran executive of the global fashion and snowboarding world, as chief executive officer. He will replace Christine Day, who unexpectedly announced in June that she would leave when a replacement was found. Read Globe and Mail article here: Chairman Chip Wilson To Leave As Lululemon Names New CEO
I just received this 'Notice Of Proposed Settlement Of Class Action' and it does not apply to me, however, if you've shopped at the Carmel Showroom, Lake Tahoe, Los Gatos or Sherman Oaks stores with the dates mentioned below you may be entitled to a $25 voucher.
_________________________________________________________________________________
YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO COMPLETE A CLAIM FORM IF YOU RECEIVED THIS EMAIL AND THE ATTACHED "NOTICE OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF CLASS ACTION" DIRECTLY FROM GILARDI & CO. LLC ON DECEMBER 6, 2013.
NOTICE OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF CLASS ACTION
AUTHORIZED BY THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
IF YOU USED A CREDIT CARD TO PURCHASE MERCHANDISE FROM A LULULEMON SHOWROOM IN CARMEL, LAKE TAHOE, LOS GATOS, OR SHERMAN OAKS BETWEEN AUGUST 10, 2011, AND AUGUST 16, 2012, OR IN SAN DIEGO BETWEEN AUGUST 10, 2011, AND DECEMBER 20, 2012, PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY AS YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO A CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AWARD.
• A Settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit against lululemon USA Inc. and lululemon athletica Inc. ("lululemon"). The class action lawsuit involves whether lululemon requested and recorded customers' zip codes during credit card transactions at its California locations.
• You are included if you used a credit card to purchase merchandise at a lululemon showroom in Carmel, Lake Tahoe, Los Gatos or Sherman Oaks, California, between August 10, 2011, and August 16, 2012, or in San Diego, California, between August 10, 2011, and December 20, 2012, and lululemon requested and recorded your zip code. You are not included in the Settlement if you used a debit card, prepaid credit card, and/or a business credit card.
• Those included in the Settlement will be eligible to receive one Class Action Settlement Award for a twenty-five dollar ($25.00) voucher.
• Please read this notice carefully. Your legal rights are affected whether you act, or don't act.
BASIC INFORMATION
1. Why was this Notice issued?
A Court authorized this notice because you may have a right to know about a proposed Settlement of this class action lawsuit and about all of your options before the Court decides whether to give final approval to the Settlement. This Notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, and your legal rights. You are NOT being sued.
whatsnewlulu
whatsnewlulu
Last week, The Colbert Report featured our other Canadian treasure, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (why don't we have long range tranquilizer darts for situations like these?). This week, Stephen Colbert talked about Chip Wilson in Alpha Dog Of The Week. 'Apparently Spanx is not an invitation'. LOL!
“Not every CEO has the savvy to live by the marketing mantra, the customer is always fat,” said Colbert. “But Chip knows that calling out on your clientele’s chub rub is good marketing. It makes them feel insecure about their bodies, thus causing them to work out more which means they need more athletic clothes… cha-ching!”
“Not every CEO has the savvy to live by the marketing mantra, the customer is always fat,” said Colbert. “But Chip knows that calling out on your clientele’s chub rub is good marketing. It makes them feel insecure about their bodies, thus causing them to work out more which means they need more athletic clothes… cha-ching!”
“You hear that ladies? Chip Wilson is sad that your chafing hemhocks made him put his employees through this ‘difficult time’… it was a perfectly good apology, but some women’s bodies just don’t work for it. If Chip’s I’m sorry wasn’t good enough, your probably couldn’t hear it over the rubbing of your fat thighs,” said Colbert.
Click here to watch The Colbert Report Chip Wilson Video at Clip 2
Did you guys catch the interview with Chip and Shannon Wilson on Bloomberg? I wasn't actually going to write about it when it first came up because, well for starters I'm kind of tired of their PR blunders (Who Is Jon Galt? , Yoga Barbie , the Poser shoppers, the latest shoppers with heroin needles on it promoting moderation...making puns at the expense of violence against women's charities) there is just so much to be offended by when it comes to Lululemon that I just get tired of it the way one gets weary of a toddler constantly seeking attention. But...alas, Chip created a youtube video for his employees as an apology for stating that a lot of the issues with quality are actually issues of women that shouldn't be wearing yoga pants wearing yoga pants. Insinuating that friction from lack of thigh gap is what is causing their company levelling quality issues. So he apologized to his employees for being burdened with the fallout of his comments. Whatever. Keep believing that delusion. Anyways, an edited version of this video was posted on the Lululemon Facebook page and shared with customers. Which is just silly because its an apology to employees and shared completely out of context.
I'm actually not mad by what Chip had said in the interview. Not because I don't think he's a complete asshat, but because I don't care what a megalomaniacal billionaire thinks the problem is, or if he thinks my thighs are the wrong cut for his pants. They can acknowledge and fix the quality issues..or not and that will either hinder them or not. He's so completely out of touch with reality and just simply exists in a vacuum of his own billionaire awesomeness that he failed to notice the fury Abercrombie customers where in when its CEO said Abercrombie was just for awesome skinny people (or something along those lines). Guys, why do we care what Chip thinks about our thighs? I don't feel I misunderstood what he was trying to say...I think he said something terribly stupid and oafish and I just don't care because he is a caricature to me. Chip, you are just a billionaire that is surrounded by yes men. Nobody that works for you is going to tell you the truth. He's not my messiah and I don't look to Chip Wilson for validation of my life's values. I don't need him to approve of my thighs, or accept me as a customer. I'll spend my money there (as a chunky thighed woman) until I get bored with the product and/or with the culture.
"There's always been pilling. The thing is that women will wear seatbelts that don't work [with the pants] or they'll wear a purse that doesn't work. Or quite frankly some women's bodies just actually don't work for it"
"So, more likely that they'll be see-through on some women than others?" Bloomberg's Trish Regan asked.
"Even our small size would fit an extra large. It's really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there over a period of time and how much they use it." Wilson responded.
"So not every woman can wear Lululemon yoga pants..." Regan asked.
"I think they can," Wilson said. "It depends on how you use it"
What did you guys feel about the interview itself, and the apology? Or his red pants?
Oh Lululemon. You just don't get it.
A Dallas Lululemon store chose this display to use after turning down a charity request from The Family Place for battered women, who use 'Partner Cards' as a way to fundraise for their charity and is well established and known in their community with over 700 participating retailers. Not only did Lululemon decline to support the charity (entirely their prerogative) but they then chose to exploit the charities message in order to market their own product with this window display. After several customers voiced their disgust on the lululemon Facebook page, the Dallas Lululemon store removed the window display.
This display is offensive on multiple levels. First of all, exploiting the 'partner card' campaign for their own marketing usage and secondly, referencing 'partner yoga' in the context of domestic abuse situations. Lululemon later back pedalled in a Facebook statement saying they were 'jamming' with the people at Family Place in order to come up with another way to help, and offered yoga to the abused women and children. Yoga! Something they already offer every customer for free as part of their ambassador program where they use ambassadors to teach their classes. Yoga to women who are leaving their lives behind and worrying about how they will meet their children's basic needs of food, water, clothing and shelter.
An article out today on CNN Money, Lululemon: In An Uncomfortable Postion, is a fascinating read about the dynamics of Chip Wilson and Christine Day over the past year.
As a brand follower and fan, a lot of the tension from the executive team was really noticeable, especially after Sheree Waterson was terminated/left (which I feel was a mistake) and then subsequently Christine Day stepping down as CEO. The results of this dysfunctional dynamic has been several class action law suites alleging fraud with the handling of shares and disappointed and embarrassed customers at being the butt of sheer luon jokes.
I do feel that in the past month, Lululemon is slowly finding its way back to the designs that really captured my attention. As much as the Billionaire CEO Chip Wilson has made me cringe at times (Ayn Rand and his libertarian beliefs, Landmark, and his many 'interesting' quotes) for sure he is an equally charismatic and eccentric billionaire, he is the creative energy behind Lululemon. I am always interested to see what kind of genius that creative, half reckless megalomaniac will create next because you know he has it in him to produce something the scale of Lululemon again. Christine Day on the other hand, to me has always been the antitheses of that creative Lululemon energy. Its true that lululemon needed that structural organization. Unfortunately she was not able to do that without simultaneously stagnating the brand and resorting to cheap tricks of watering down designs and relying on sub par materials.
As a brand follower and fan, a lot of the tension from the executive team was really noticeable, especially after Sheree Waterson was terminated/left (which I feel was a mistake) and then subsequently Christine Day stepping down as CEO. The results of this dysfunctional dynamic has been several class action law suites alleging fraud with the handling of shares and disappointed and embarrassed customers at being the butt of sheer luon jokes.
I do feel that in the past month, Lululemon is slowly finding its way back to the designs that really captured my attention. As much as the Billionaire CEO Chip Wilson has made me cringe at times (Ayn Rand and his libertarian beliefs, Landmark, and his many 'interesting' quotes) for sure he is an equally charismatic and eccentric billionaire, he is the creative energy behind Lululemon. I am always interested to see what kind of genius that creative, half reckless megalomaniac will create next because you know he has it in him to produce something the scale of Lululemon again. Christine Day on the other hand, to me has always been the antitheses of that creative Lululemon energy. Its true that lululemon needed that structural organization. Unfortunately she was not able to do that without simultaneously stagnating the brand and resorting to cheap tricks of watering down designs and relying on sub par materials.
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| Incognito Billionaire. |
If you tried ordering from Lululemon's upload last night and you are in the US, you probably encountered serious issues with trying to complete your order. There are hundreds of reports today of orders not completing, having to be reattempted constantly, only to have all of the attempts filled hours later. This has happened week after week now and last week it seems it was isolated to Canadian shoppers. This puts holds on pay pal funds that do not fall away for at least a week or more. This flags shoppers credit cards with 'suspicious activity' or puts shoppers over their limits as thousands of dollars worth of orders accumulate. And the GEC's response to these complaints is that 'this is the first I'm hearing of this', 'you can just return all those items to the store when they arrive', to 'this is an apple browser problem', 'We are aware of the problem and can't do anything about it' and 'Since you are requesting the cancelations later than an hour after ordering, we cannot cancel these extra orders for you' No apologies whatsoever.
The Lululemon e commerce site has been operating now for 4 years and it has encountered problem after problem that never seems to be important enough to Lululemon to resolve. Having customers credit payments and pay pal funds tied up over these mistakes is inexcusable.
The Lululemon e commerce site has been operating now for 4 years and it has encountered problem after problem that never seems to be important enough to Lululemon to resolve. Having customers credit payments and pay pal funds tied up over these mistakes is inexcusable.
If you encountered these issues last night or from prior uploads, please share with us how Lululemon dealt with your transaction in order to unburden you of their mistakes and satisfy you that it will not occur again.
A few months ago I was contacted by an author, Grant Stoddard, who was writing a book on behalf of Chip Wilson, for an interview. I just got the details of what the project is all about so I thought I'd share it with you guys. Looks like Chip has started a new company called Whil and it's meditation method he developed a number of years ago, alongside developing lululemon. To check out his book go here: 40,000 Days And Then You're Dead and Whil.com. There are a series of vimeo interviews for the book from various people that have worked with Chip Wilson and Lululemon over the years and its' quite interesting.
Why whil. Why Now? from Whil on Vimeo.
A new lululemon website just launched today called Hey Lululemon and it's a feedback based website where you can give feedback directly to the designers...I think. I haven't fully explored the website since it just now launched, but it seems like you sign in and it's sort of like a social media/forum experience. Really great idea since besides being able to offer feedback I've always wanted to know more about the designers and what the process is, and where there inspiration comes for certain color palettes and prints. The website is already filled with suggestions and entries from lululemon corporate employees. How neat!
You can follow my profile lulumum and view my comments and feedback on hey lululemon.
You can follow my profile lulumum and view my comments and feedback on hey lululemon.
Lululemon has issued a press release to media yesterday stating that continued complaints of sheer yoga pants is caused by customers who are wearing pants that are too small. Here is the statement:
Retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc. says customers could still be sporting see-through Luon yoga pants because they're buying sizes that are too small for them.
The Vancouver-based company said Wednesday there are still "a few negative comments" circulating on the Internet from shoppers who it believes are buying the wrong size.
The problem may be that "guests don't have the benefit of doing an in-store fit session with one of our educators to make sure the fit is right for them," the company said in a Frequently Asked Questions section of its website.
"The majority of feedback about the return of our black luon bottoms has been positive," it noted.
I find this statement completely idiotic, disgusting and unprofessional and I really truly feel Lululemon needs a new media management team that can effectively communicate publicly without insulting and alienating their entire customer base. What exactly is the point of a press release like this one other than to excuse themselves to their shareholders and in effect, kissing away their loyal customers?
Lululemon pants, before the recall and before the quality issues (approximately a year and a half ago) where not sheer no matter what size you put on. The sign of too small luon used to simply be shinnyness. THAT was the sign that your pants where too small (read the Lululemon Blog Post here about determining fit). At some point, lululemon decided to change their signature luon (nylon, lycra blend) to include polyester (anywhere from 52% polyester to 97% polyester), and they made the fabric blends thinner and thinner with less compression. As a result, when this new material is stretched or light in color, it becomes extremely sheer. This is why the pants are sheer, not because the customers don't know what size they are. Choosing a size up in pants *may* help make them become slightly more opaque (only slightly), but that is at the risk of functional fit for exercise purposes. Your pants will be slightly more opaque, but then they fall down while you are exercising in them. Also, suggesting your customer base needs to size up in luon bottoms has now sized out all of your size 10 and 12 customers. You know, the people with athletic bodies that work out all the time????
Another issue with this new line of BS I'm having, is that it's become obvious that store educators have been coached on speaking with customers (guests) and are now repeating scripts along the lines of 'Oh my gosh, we just learned about 'true fit' the other day and I learned that although my 'preferred size' is a size 8, according to our measurements my 'true size' is a size 10' This script, or some version of it has been repeated over and over and over again to customers. All you need to do to hear it is stand in the vicinity of the pants wall and someone will approach you with this helpful little tip. It's so disingenuous it makes me want to hurl every time I hear it, or hear a reader mention this type of an encounter. Basically, you can wear pants that fit and have them be sheer, or pants that are too big that you can't work out in but they will be opaque. You can no longer have it both ways.
Another issue with this new line of BS I'm having, is that it's become obvious that store educators have been coached on speaking with customers (guests) and are now repeating scripts along the lines of 'Oh my gosh, we just learned about 'true fit' the other day and I learned that although my 'preferred size' is a size 8, according to our measurements my 'true size' is a size 10' This script, or some version of it has been repeated over and over and over again to customers. All you need to do to hear it is stand in the vicinity of the pants wall and someone will approach you with this helpful little tip. It's so disingenuous it makes me want to hurl every time I hear it, or hear a reader mention this type of an encounter. Basically, you can wear pants that fit and have them be sheer, or pants that are too big that you can't work out in but they will be opaque. You can no longer have it both ways.
And now, the comments section of every news article on this story has these disgusting quips from people that do not wear the brand, and who are not shareholders. Lululemon, why would you put your customers in this position? We've been made to feel embarrassed already by wearing sheer pants, and now you are embarrassing us again by blaming us for the sheerness in the pants you have created defectively. I just don't understand why Lululemon is blaming the customer when there has very clearly been a change in quality of luon, resulting in sheerness among other quality issues. The luon now is NOT the same fabric it once was. Your longtime employees know this. I have heard it in hushed whispers from almost every single store I've been in in the last year.
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| This guy is the winner for biggest douche prize |
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This is what adding polyester to your signature luon does.
Oh boy, this is hard to keep up with. Another class action law suit has been brought forth against Lululemon. I reported a few days ago that Lululemon is being sued in a class action lawsuit, and earlier this summer, an individual law suit was filed against Lululemon from pension fund shareholders. All of these lawsuits are in relation to the recall of black luon pants and interesting SEC filings that occurred in and around that time, leading some investors to allege fraudulent share handling. I wonder if a former employee, chief something or other may be next. This is bad. Very, very bad. This summer lululemon had posted a job ad titled #dreamjobalert in search for a 'rad lawyer', and I really hope they hired 'the raddest' lawyer around' because she/he will be very busy.
articles:
Many of you may recognize the name Eion Finn from the Lululemon website or from seeing his DVD's The Pursuit of Happy Hips, The Blissology Project and Power Yoga For Happines 2 The Surf Edition in Lululemon stores. Eion Finn has been a Lululemon ambassador since the very beginning and it's hard not to notice and recognize this hunky surf yogi on the cover of his DVD's whilst browsing the tank wall.
Oprah Magazine mentions Eion Finn on page 40 of the June 2011 edition and proclaims "We like this guy!" I'll have to agree with her on this one. I own two of his DVD's and although the Power Yoga for Happiness Surf Edition is a bit hard for me at the moment (it's hard core upper body and core work) I really love his The Pursuit of Happy Hips DVD. It's challenging but not overly hard, It's a great workout and the scenery throughout Vancouver and Whistler is amazing. Reading this short article has reminded me I want to start using these DVD's again while my running is a bit aimless after my half marathon.
Have any of you tried his DVD's yet?
Eion circa 1990 current picture of Eion.
If you were one of the customers affected by the shipping Issues on April 15th on the launch date of the new Lululemon E-Commerce site you will have gotten one of these letters from Lululemon. I'm really happy to see them working hard to keep the affected customers happy in light of this unfortunate and untimely hiccup. It's always a bummer to have to report stories like this one but it does make it all the better to have them acknowledge the issue and to let you know they value your feedback and business.
So tell me, do you plan on using your credit towards the next 'Upload Thursday'?
I love this Lululemon ad in Runners Word Magazine and I think this is the reason why running skirts are such a hit for those who prefer 'eyes on the road'. Snorkel Blue is a most excellent high energy color for these Run: Speed Shorts.
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