Look in the wardrobe of any Australian woman and there’s a good chance you will spot at least one item sporting Lululemon’s subtle logo – and it’ll most likely be this pair of leggings.
After Lululemon released its first pair of leggings in 1998, it’s safe to say the activewear landscape has shifted significantly.
No longer the domain of sports brands, athleisure is a whole category and then some, with Lululemon still at the forefront all these years later.
First hitting our shores in 2004, the brand now boasts 44 stores across Australia and New Zealand, with their designs hitting cult status – in particular their leggings.
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Their range now spans training, running, yoga and casual wear, with something for everyone, even if the most athletic thing you do all week is walking the dog around the block.
According to Lululemon’s chief product officer, Sun Choe, the brand’s popularity is largely due to the fact that they are first and foremost focused on quality.
Each product undergoes rigorous testing before hitting the market to ensure it stacks up to the task, with several prototypes created and tweaked to get the perfect fit.
“Depending on the activity it’s intended to be worn for, we make sure that we do robust wear testing. This includes people running on treadmills, taking yoga classes and doing deadlifts to ensure the product is fit for purpose,” Choe tells Body+Soul recently at their Vancouver headquarters.
And when it comes to balancing the performance of the product with the aesthetics of how they look, she says “There is no compromise”.
“Especially for women, they want to look and feel good when they work out. We won’t launch something if we feel like we’re compromising on one versus the other.”
Arguably their most popular style is their , which launched in 2015 and were originally made for practising yoga. In the ensuing years, the bottoms have drawn a legion of devoted fans with the Align franchise now worth $1 billion.
Their popularity has much to do with the buttery-soft feel of Lululemon’s proprietary ‘Nulu’ fabric, which has since expanded, being crafted into tanks, dresses, shorts and pants.
It reportedly took three and a half years to create, test and launch the Align pants, with the research and development for the raw materials alone taking 12 months, followed by an additional 12 months of design and testing.
“We know people want to feel light and free in their leggings whether they’re practising yoga or just lounging around. The waistband is really forgiving, which makes them comfortable to wear and also ensures they stay up so there’s zero distraction when you’re moving,” Choe explains.
The design was propelled by the brand’s design philosophy they refer to as “the science of feel.”
“We do all kinds of lab tests on the fabric itself to make sure that it holds up. We wanted to make sure that it had both a soft feel to touch and that it was also sweat-wicking to keep you dry and comfortable.”
At the leggings aren’t the cheapest, but if the thousands of reviewers are to be believed, you’ll no doubt get your money’s worth as you’ll likely never want to take them off.
