Avery Kremer
The Laundering of Lululemon
I bought my first pair of Lululemon leggings from the “We Made Too Much” section of the website - essentially their sales section. Instead of paying $98 for a pair of leggings, I paid $68. Despite being an “unpopular” pair of leggings, I was beyond ecstatic when they arrived. Putting them on, I found them to be flattering and comfortable. However, I was not given the “wow” factor I was expecting. The quality was comparable to leggings that I bought at Kohl’s or Target for a quarter of the price. If quality did not make them worth their price, what did? And why have I, and lots of other girls, spent most of our money on this brand since our first purchases?
In 1998 Chip Wilson of Vancouver created the brand Lululemon. The name “Lululemon” itself has no meaning. It is simply a racist and insulting joke by Wilson. The letter “L” does not have an interchangeable character in the Japanese alphabet. In a Tweet, Wilson explained he fabricated the name of the brand to contain 3 “L”’s as he found the Japanese pronunciation to be hilarious. Despite this horrific background, the company proved to be an instant success with its one original store expanding to become an international company with over 650 stores around the world today. Now, the company is worth more than 53 billion dollars according to Lululemon Athletica Inc net worth chart.
The brand claims to be aimed at female fitness enthusiasts in their thirties. But, by walking into one of their stores, one would be completely oblivious to this fact. The second that one walks in, teenage girls babbling about what they want to waste their money on encapsulate them. A few women in Lululemon's target demographic may be present, but they are a needle in a haystack in the crowd of teenagers. These teenage girls are the epitome of being “basic” (something that I have fallen victim to as well). They are not buying Lululemon because it is the best quality brand out there. They are buying it because of the logo. The name “Lululemon” is the reason that we are willing to spend over $100 on a piece of clothing that is not going to last forever.
The price of Lululemon is preposterous. The cost of a pair of their “buttery soft” “Align Leggings”, their most popular pair of leggings, is a ludicrous $98. The price to produce one pair of these pants is $8 meaning that Lululemon marks up their prices by 92% which makes the markups of other popular brands like Nike and Underarmour of about 50%, seem miniscule. To an educated consumer, it seems ludicrous that Lululemon can get away with their insane markup prices; the reason that they prosper is because people (mainly teenage girls) are willing to pay their prices. They are not deterred by the price because of their willingness to waste away their hard-earned money just to say that they own Lululemon and for people to see them wearing it.
Not long after buying my first pair of Lululemon leggings, I bought my second pair. This pair, yet again were from the “We Made Too Much” section, but I could not care less. All that I was concerned with was owning Lululemon, even if it meant wasting the little money that I had. This pair was a black and white heathered pattern and matched with practically any shirt, and as a result, I lived in these leggings. The first day that I wore them to school, a girl in my Algebra class told me that she liked them and asked where I bought them from. This was the moment I had been waiting for, the moment I had longed for. I was finally going to get to tell someone that I owned Lululemon.
Owning Lululemon was a luxury simply because of the name. Wearing a pair of Lululemon leggings made me feel like I was worth something, made me feel like I was a part of some meaningful societal group of “proper” teenage girls. I know in reality that this notion isn’t the case, but to young girls trying to find their place in the world, having the necessities for being “basic” is a starting point. It gives a foreground for them to build off of to find who they truly are and who they want to be. If they feel like their appearance is acceptable to those around them, they may be willing to show their true self in other ways.
This picture of the brand may seem like a positive, but in reality, it is not. Lululemon may help girls feel accepted, but they also take advantage of this. They prey on the insecurities of young girls to make more money. They know that girls are willing to overlook the number on the price tag if it means that they can feel better about themselves.
Industry is so much bigger than all of us as people. They are catered towards us, not for us. They take advantage of the things that we try to hide in order to make more money. All that they care about is money.
Lululemon may have their big motto to “reach your full potential” and their so-called purpose to “connect individuals living the sweat life”, by taking a deeper look, it is apparent that that is not their true purpose. Their purpose is to make products that will make the most money and they will do anything to get there. They may advertise “body positivity” and their “clean” and “child-labor-free” clothing. But the truth is that Lululemon’s advertising is to make their clothes more appealing to consumers. They know that by capitalizing on the emotions and insecurities of young girls, they will become richer.
I give Lululemon two stars.