Lululemon Recalls Yoga Pants That Reveal Too Much
Photo credit: lululemon athletica | Flickr
Watch out, yoga-loving ladies of Vancouver. That downward dog may be stretching more than your quads.
Yoga-wear maker Lululemon announced earlier this week that some of its most popular black yoga pants become sheer – i.e. see-through – when stretched. Apparently, a slight manufacturing defect went unnoticed, and now tens of thousands of buyers are walking around in trendy, breathable and sometimes transparent stretch pants.
“We want you to Down Dog and Crow with confidence and we felt these pants didn’t measure up,” explained a company blog post.
Affected are Lululemon’s popular black Luon pants ($98), which represent 17 percent of its line. The revealing active wear will be recalled from Lulu’s 200 stores, and consumers who bought the pants after March 1 can return them for a refund or exchange.
The problem was impossible to detect in factories, explained Lululemon CEO Christine Day in an interview with Bloomberg. “The truth of the matter is the only way you can actually test for the issue is to put the pants on and bend over . . . . [It] wasn’t until we got in the store and started putting it on people that we could actually see the issue.”
While the news caused a slight dip in Lululemon’s stock prices, the snafu has been great for publicity. News programs and websites around the world have picked up on the story, shining the spotlight on the Vancouver-based company. Some commentators even praised Lulu’s sheer Luon pants as the leading edge of a trend emphasizing skin tight materials and risque design in women’s athletic fashion.
And, of course, Twitter had a field day with the recall. A few gems, as compiled by the Vancouver Sun:
- “If I’m Lululemon I just turn around and sell those pants to Victoria’s Secret, no?” @brian72975
- “Yoga pants that leave nothing to the imagination recalled for leaving nothing to the imagination.” @gillianburnett
- “Lululemon’s see-through pants problem causes stock to drop, also severe disappointment in guys who always take back row in yoga class.” @laurengoode
- “Vancouver’s great crisis is here: Lululemon recall over see-through material could lead to YOGA PANTS SHORTAGE OMG” @harrisonmooney
What do you think about Lululemon’s see-through pants recall? Has it made Vancouver the butt of too many jokes? Or is it good for business?
For more updates on Vancouver and beyond, follow me on Twitter @RemyScalza.
Article source: http://www.insidevancouver.ca/2013/03/22/lululemon-recalls-yoga-pants-that-reveal-too-much/
