Lululemon forced to pull leggings after embarrassing fault when customers wore them while exercising
Will things ever work out for Lululemon?
The workout clothing brand has been thrust into the spotlight once again after being forced to pull a new line of leggings over embarrassing quality issues.
Once widely regarded the 'it legging', Lululemon's yoga pants have failed to pass the Child's Pose check multiple times in recent years.
Indeed, customers have found that some of the leggings are see–through, making them less than ideal for bending, stretching, or squatting — arguably the primary purpose of such pants.
This week, the company had to pause online sales of its new 'Get Low' workout line after customers reported they were 'see–through' and not 'squat proof'.
The Get Low collection is still being sold in stores, but online sales have been halted.
'We have temporarily paused sales online in the market to better understand some initial guest feedback and support with product education,' a spokesperson said. 'We expect to bring the collection back to our North America e–commerce channels soon and the collection continues to be available in other markets.'
People online were shocked that the Get Low leggings ever received final approval. 'It blows my mind how something makes it on the floor with issues like that. I work in tech and we have like 94 layers of design, testing, testing again, approvals, and extra gates just to get a slightly larger font,' a Reddit user said.
Lululemon has been thrust into the spotlight once again for quality issues
The company had to pause online sales of its new 'Get Low' workout line after customers reported they were 'see–through' and not 'squat proof'
The Get Low collection is still being sold in stores, but online sales have been temporarily paused
'I 100 percent did not like the leggings. Completely see through, no compression, and weird color blocking,' someone else wrote.
'I remember thinking that all the styled photos for them were in INCREDIBLY dim lighting,' another said.
'Tried them yesterday. Total fail on the design,' added a different user.
Following the news, Lululemon’s stock fell 6 percent — the biggest drop since September. The shares sank nearly 50 percent last year, after falling sales spooked Wall Street.
Quality issues have haunted the brand before. In 2013, Lululemon was forced to recall its popular ‘Luon’ yoga pants after they were found to be too sheer, triggering a major PR crisis at the height of the company’s popularity.
After that debacle, the company largely avoided major mishaps for more than a decade.
But in 2024 the 'Breezethrough' leggings were pulled just weeks after release due to negative customer reviews regarding an uncomfortable and revealing V–seam.
The company's controversies have not been limited to quality control, its former CEO Chip Wilson has repeatedly caused controversy.
Are premium brands like Lululemon losing their edge or just out of touch with customers' real needs?
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The Canadian-born company practically invented 'athleisure' with its famously flattering leggings
Under the leadership of Chip Wilson (pictured), Lululemon was thriving — but now rivals such as Alo and Vuori have swept in and divided the upscale athletics company's clientele
Under the leadership of Wilson, Lululemon was thriving — but now rivals such as Alo and Vuori have swept in and divided the upscale athletics company's clientele.
Wilson, now 70, has been openly critical of the brand’s direction, even publicly mocking current CEO Calvin McDonald.
He compared the demise of Lululemon to a plane crash and blamed the so-called 'loss of cool' on the type of CEO that speaks Wall Street but is killing innovation, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Wilson hasn't held a role at the 27-year-old company in over a decade. He resigned as chairman of its board of directors in 2013 after outrage over his comments about customers' bodies.
The Lululemon founder found himself in hot water for comments made about how 'certain customers' should not buy clothes from the brand.
In a Forbes interview in 2024, Wilson said he was not a fan of the company's 'whole diversity and inclusion thing.'
He also slammed the retailer's advertising, calling the models in Lululemon's ads 'unhealthy,' 'sickly' and 'not inspirational,' and saying that it's important to be clear that 'you don't want certain customers coming in.'
In 2013, the founder came under fire after saying that 'some women's bodies just actually don't work' in Lululemon's yoga pants. He stepped aside as CEO in the same year and left the board altogether in 2015.
