You see the Lululemon yoga pants everywhere. They have become a fashion statement in the same way that the North Face is worn by cold sports enthusiasts. Annoyingly skinny yoga ladies wearing Aviator sunglasses and artfully tied pashminas wear Lululemon pants as a badge of honor.
Recently, Lululemon became embroiled in a controversy that I like to call “Sheer Madness.” It was revealed (no pun intended) that a line of pants were too sheer and during yoga classes people’s nether regions were being exposed to the world. I have some thoughts about the controversy.
I believe that the company reacted a bit hysterically! They could have have looked at this as an opportunity for their brand. How a company reacts to adversity says a lot about how it’s run, and the strength of the brand. The following are ideas of how I would deal with this situation if I were president of this company.
- Sell pants at a deep discount-Lululemon pants retail around $100. I would have purchased a pair if offered at a deep discount. I do yoga and would appreciate having a well made pair of yoga pants
- Joked about it the whole debacle “Don’t do the dog in these” or “don’t dog us out!” The company could have collaborated with Saturday Night Live and put together a skit about not doing downward facing dog in those pants. They could have also made a t-shirt with the joke on it. Sales of the t-shirt could go towards a charity that the company supports
- Donated pants and tops with yoga mats to a program promoting yoga/wellness. There are a lot of people who would love to participate in wellness/exercise programs but don’t have the funds to purchase good gear. This would have been a great way to introduce the company to people outside of the typical demographic that Lululeman works with
- Created a contest to repurpose the pants and make tops with the pants material-Why waste all of that material? I would have worn a hot new repurposed top from the material that the pants are made out of.
- For people who already had purchased the pants-have a short time frame for people to come in and get a full return on their pants or exchange for another pair. This would result in a lot less money lost because a lot of people are probably fine with the pants and aren’t worried about it.
- Tell people to wear underwear. Jeez-in all of the talk that I’ve heard about this recall, no one has mentioned the most obvious remedy to this issue-wear some freakin’ underwear b$tches! You guys are roaming around town all day in those leggings apparently going commando. What happened to wearing clothing for the moments that you’re in? Exercise clothes should be for exercise, work clothes for work, and cute casual clothes (jeans and cute top) for running errands.
We are dressing too casually people all the time. Don’t you feel great when you present yourself well? I’m not asking you to be a fashion plate. But, If you are wearing yoga pants everywhere or some other clothing item that keeps you from trying then there might be something else going on. If you want to spend $100 on those pants fine. But, do they change your workout? Bikram yoga is so damn hot that I have to wear shorts, I can’t believe that people even wear them during hot yoga. You could say that the price does balance out if people are wearing the pants all the time as for me I will wait to find a pair on sale.
NAMASTE
Watch the entire video-it’s hilarious!
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I LOVED that video. So funny…and I’ve been to the Urth Cafe. It’s good! This is not the first time lululemon has had controversy. I guess for all their organic made in the us (or something like that) claims, it was proven they are using child labor…something along those lines. I think their stuff is OK and way overpriced. I can find similar things for a fraction of the cost at target. Sigh..I do miss doing more yoga though. namaste. 🙂
I also love the Whole Foods Parking Lot video. I hadn’t heard about the sweatshop controversy. How hypocritical!I got a $59 unlimited Corepower Yoga (Colorado Company) pass for the next month so I am doing a 30 day Bikram Challenge. I’m a little afraid! We’ll see how it goes.
As someone who used to work for Lululemon, their classic yoga pants is one thing that will never ever go on sale. Unless it had a rip on it. They’re too popular and women are willing to drop 3 figures for pants that they don’t even work out in. What gives?
They don’t call them sales. They refer to them as
” markdowns.” Ha.
Markdowns, why is everything so p.c.? Why do some companies spend so much time crafting language? Just say what you mean! Blah. I can’t walk around in yoga pants all the time-even though they are comfy. I have too many southern relatives for that! They are going to lose a lot of money that affects their bottom line. HAHA! No pun intended.
That video cracked me up. The part about the vegan cookies and metal water bottles. I have to admit I had to google lululemon because I didn’t know what it was (Yes I’m that lame). If I have to pay more than $30 for a pair of yoga pants at TJMaxx I’m personally offended, so $100 a pair is a little out of my budget.
No, you’re not lame! You’re just savvy enough not to fall for the marketing and buy a pair of $100 yoga pants. I just have other things I want to do with that money. I’m starting to really think about only shopping my closet for a while…I’m talking for a year. Am pretty sure I’m going to make this happen.
They don’t give them away or mark them down because they don’t want their brand associated with a less than perfect product. I can imagine why – if you see someone walking around in a pair of see-through pants you may (wrongly) assume that all of that brand are of the same quality because they have the same logo. It is for this reason that they are not selling them at a discount or giving them to charity. Also, it is sadly less expensive to throw the pants away than to take them apart and re-purpose them.
In the interest of full disclosure I own one lululemon workout top. I had a gift card, so I paid the same out of pocket as I would for other workout gear. It is a great top, holds up well (both what it is containing as well as to wear and tear) and is one of the most comfortable tops I have. Would I have paid full price, heck no.
You bring up some great points. But, Nike/Puma are even bigger brands and I find their “irregular” items at Ross and TJ Maxx all the time. I have heard that the quality of Lululemon items is quite high. I just feel like there was a missed opportunity to deal with the issue creatively while exposing new customers to the brand. It does frustrate me that it would cost more to repurpose the item than throwing them away. But, I’m glad that you didn’t pay full price for your items!
Thank you for your kind compliments. Sadly, my feeds don’t work! I discovered this about a month ago when someone else told me what feeds were 🙂 I am in the process of trying to get it fixed…but, that might take awhile.