Lululemon and the rise of athleisure
Chip Wilson had spent years in the surf and skate clothing business when he took a yoga class in Vancouver in the late 1990s. He noticed that most people were practicing in cotton clothes that did not suit the workout.
In 1998 he founded Lululemon Athletica, starting with a design studio that doubled as a yoga studio in the evenings. The first standalone store opened in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighborhood in 2000.
The leggings
Lululemon’s black stretch pants became its signature product. They were priced well above typical workout clothes, but customers paid for the fit and fabric. Stores hired local yoga teachers and runners as brand ambassadors and held free classes.
Athleisure
As more people wore leggings and hoodies outside the gym, a new category, athleisure, took off. Nike, Adidas, Gap’s Athleta and many smaller brands followed.
Growth and setbacks
Lululemon went public in 2007. It had a well-known recall of sheer yoga pants in 2013, and Wilson left the board in 2015 after a series of controversies.
The company now sells men’s clothing, shoes and accessories in many countries. It has faced slower growth in the United States and more competition in recent years, while sales in China and other markets have grown.
