As readers of the blog know, I’m no fan of Lululemon. I’ve never had to actually boycott the store though since I don’t think they make anything (other than yoga mats and hair clips) that would fit size 14 me.
See Just walk slowly away from that rack of $100 yoga pants and On going commando and athletic clothing. Caitlin at Fit and Feminist has stuff to say too: WAS JOHN GALT A YOGI? OR WHY I WILL DEFINITELY NEVER BUY LULULEMON’S CLOTHING NOW. See also Are your favorite yoga pants evil?
But now they’ve gone and made some lovely looking cycling clothes which I might buy and wear since they’re lovely looking except they come only in men’s sizes and fit only men. See Bicycling Magazine’s review, Lululemon Introduces a Cycling Kit for Men.
It’s no secret that the core customers for yoga/casual apparel giant Lululemon are women. Even within cycling, the company’s most recent association was as title sponsor of a top women’s pro cycling team.
So it’s a little surprising that the first cycling-specific clothing the company is releasing isn’t for women. Instead, Lululemon’s new Sea to Sky collection is for guys and, according to the company’s PR agency, there are no immediate plans to produce a women’s version.
Which is too bad, because it’s a stylish kit that we think many of our female co-workers, friends, and family might like.
Grrrr.
Grrrr indeed! While we’re at it, why are there not more bib shorts available for women? Makers seem to assume that men all want bib shorts but women don’t, which is false. Grrrrr.
False, false, false!
I commented on facebook because I was on the cell phone earlier, but I have some thoughts: I think it’s sad that these will be in store but that the beautiful kits for women through specialized are exceedingly hard to get your hands on! I do think they deserve some props for putting them on elite female cyclists, though the sponsorship arrangement changed this year:
“Specialized and Lululemon will be stepping back from their current flagship women’s team, Specialized-lululemon, which is managed by Velocio Sports, in order to begin sponsorship efforts with the newly reworked Boels-Dolmans team. // “We have been a part of the Specialized-lululemon team for the past three years and it was a great fit for us at that point in women’s cycling, but women’s cycling isn’t a start-up anymore, women’s racing is happening. Both funding and expectations in the sport have increased, so we want a bigger platform for what we can do in women’s cycling.” Sprague said, “Lululemon will join the new Boels-Dolmans team as an off-the-bike clothing provider, and will continue to do artistic collaborations with Specialized.”” Read more at http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/09/news/specialized-sponsor-boels-dolmans-womens-cycling-team_346550#6l0OggchIf6tEzWW.99”
I still think that’s pretty cool, to have a big company like lululemon go ahead and get involved with women’s cycling, which isn’t the kind of sport that sells in the same way that yoga pants you can wear to work do, and to put flowers on cycling kits for people like me to lust for!
I guess it’s hard for me to see this as surprising, having (lightly) followed Lululemon as a company. They recently dipped their toes into providing clothes for men, and the cycling stuff is an extension of that initiative, which was launched with pants that promoted extra room for the testicles — obviously a world away from their cheek-baring swimwear for the ladies. Plus they already have spinning gear for women! *eye roll*
Chip Wilson may be gone but his spirit lives on in the company.
I commented on facebook, but I’ll add this here, too. I really don’t think it’s fair to say that this is the first cycling-specific clothing Lululemon has released. I’ve seen at least two cycling kits released in the past (shorts, jersey, and jacket) for women. I guess they weren’t “designed and made in-house”? But they were still kits available for women.
A quick google search reveals this: http://milelonglegs.com/2013/05/20/review-lululemon-paceline-cycling-jersey/
And also, apparently they have sold their Specialized kit as well, both in-store (though I think only in the UK) and online: http://www.specializedconceptstore.co.uk/harrogate-store/news/lululemon-and-isle-of-man-team-kits-available-now
There are a *lot* of things to be annoyed about with Lululemon, but I’m not convinced this is one of them.
We share a similar passion in our disregard for Lulu-whatever… There are many smaller companies that make wonderful clothing for women cyclist, just one off the top of head is : Twin Six :
https://www.twinsix.com/
Another is : Road Holland :
http://roadholland.com/collections/womens
Ride safe and be inspired!!!
Well, take this with a grain of salt since I love Lululemon as one of the few athletic wear brands that fits my oddly shaped CrossFit body. However, I know I have seen a nice cycling jersey and very normal looking cycling shorts in their Spring Has Sprung pattern (Spring 2013) and I’m pretty sure in a few other prints as well. I think they release something nearly every year. I’m not saying the company doesn’t have issues. Clearly they do. My 5’1″ 140 lb frame takes the largest size of shorts they make some of the time (but I wear a Nike tempo L/XL… big quads and booty). They are pretty good about making functional clothes for most sports for women though. Except swimwear. Sigh.
Stop eating a high-fat diet with animal products and you won’t stay size 14 (!) for long.
Nobody cares. Lululemon can design whatever they want for whomever they want. Capitalism. Design your own bibs.