Lululemon Athletica Brand Research

Who?

Lululemon Athletica is  a Canadian athletic apparel retailer. Founded in 1998, Lululemon's first store opened in the beach area of Vancouver British Columbia called Kitsilano, in November of 2000. 

After 20 years in the surf, skate and snowboard business, founder Chip Wilson took the first commercial yoga class offered in Vancouver and found the result 'exhilarating.' The post-yoga feeling he experienced was so close to surfing and snowboarding that it 'seemed obvious that yoga was an ideology whose time had come (again).' It seemed inappropriate to Wilson, whose passion lay in technical athletic fabrics, that cotton clothing was being used for sweaty, stretchy power yoga. From this, a design studio was established that became a yoga studio at night to pay the rent. 

The idea was to have a store that was a community hub where people could learn and discuss the physical aspects of healthy living from yoga and diet to running and cycling - as well as the mental aspects of living a powerful life of possibilities. Unfortunately this concept was short lived as the store became so busy that it was impossible to help customers in this way in addition to selling products. This was not the end for the company however, as they have since become an international brand shipping garments and accessories world-wide.

What?

The products sold by Lululemon are described by the store as 'yoga-inspired' athletic technical apparel. The company makes a number of different types of athletic wear, including performance shirts, shorts, and pants, as well as lifestyle apparel and yoga accessories. The brand provides garments for for 'yoga, running, dancing, and most other sweaty pursuits.'

Brand Name

The lululemon name was chosen in a survey of 100 people from a list of 20 brand names and 20 logos. The logo is described as a stylized "A" that was created for the first letter in the name "athletically hip", a name which failed to make the grade before 'lululemon' was chosen.

Brand Controversies

The Brand has been describes as a 'magnet' for controversies after its association with numerous reputation breaking occurrences - including product recalls, product quality issues, overpriced merchandise, misleading statements to artificially inflate its stock price, marketing efforts that exclude overweight customers, accusations by shareholders of fraud, false advertising and controversial statements made by the founder. 

As if this plethora of negativity wasn't enough, the Brands biggest controversy is undoubtedly the 'Lululemon Murder' after employee Brittany Norwood murdered colleague Jayna Murray at the Lululemon Athletica store in Bethesda, Maryland in 2011. The case received intense media attention and became known famously as the 'Lululemon murder.'