Lululemon dominates the athleisure market, raking in billions annually with leggings often priced around $100. The question on many minds is, “Does Lululemon truly justify its price tag?” The brand’s aficionados rave about its specialized materials tailored for workouts. While Lululemon offers undeniable comfort and trendy designs, we delve into whether its value proposition matches its hefty price tag, especially for the everyday fitness enthusiast.
Lululemon use comfortable fabrics that stretch and move as you exercise. Their designs are stylish and beautiful but are also expensive.
Who wrote this article ? The author of this article Ling MA brings a wealth of fashion expertise from her time in Shanghai and her advanced studies in Manchester. With hands-on experience at Burberry and a deep understanding of designer brands, she offers readers a unique and trusted viewpoint on the latest in fashion trends.
In this table below are three popular Lululemon products I think are worth taking a look at and seeing whether they are worth the price for you.
Contents
Why Lululemon Is Expensive
Lululemon has become the luxury brand name in athleisure through a series of marketing strategies. From using celebrities as advertisers to creating unique materials for its apparel, Lululemon has grown to be one of the most expensive brands when it comes to athleticwear. Advertising campaigns are expensive and along with using high quality materials, Lululemon needs to target the luxury end of the athletic wear market.
Lululemon Legging Materials
Lululemon has trademarked two materials it uses for its leggings: Everlux and Nulux. Everlux is known for its super-fast-drying tendencies, which help you cool off faster during intense studio workouts. Nulux works similarly but focuses on providing a smooth material that feels barely there during your runs or training sessions.
These fancy names give Lululemon leggings a unique description, but both Everlux and Nulux are made with nylon and Lycra elastane – two of the most common materials found in leggings across brands.
Nylon is used in Lululemon’s yoga pants because it is a strong, durable material that can withstand wear and tear. It is also breathable and moisture-wicking, which makes it ideal for use in activewear. Nylon is also affordable and easy to care for and is a lightweight material, perfect for your next buckram yoga workout. Nylon yoga pants are also popular because of their versatility in terms of style and colour options, as well as being easy to wash and dry clean when necessary.
Lululemon Branding and Marketing
The majority of Lululemon’s pricing is created to back its luxury brand appearance. When it comes down to it, most expensive brands use average materials to create clothes that can be overpriced due to the brand’s fame. Lululemon is no different.
Lululemon has focused its marketing efforts online, collaborating with famous influencers, bloggers, and fitness coaches. From Camilla Cabello to Charli D’Amelio, Lululemon knows who to work with to further grow its brand.
What makes Lululemon so popular is the brands ability to make you believe that wearing their clothing can lead you towards a more active lifestyle. You look the part and feel more athletic when you wear more active and flexible clothing. You just need to take the final step and join that yoga or pilates class and you can start to really feel some health benefits.
It doesn’t even matter if you don’t live an active lifestyle, you don’t need to take part in exercise to enjoy Lululemon. Looking the part is enough for many of us ladies who enjoy Lululemon’s comfortable and nice looking loungewear styles.
Whether their marketing campaign appeals to you enough to splash out on their expensive clothing is up to you but we can see why so many of us have ended up in their stores trying on their clothing.
Lululemon Scarcity
Another tactic Lululemon uses to justify its high prices is the scarcity technique. Lululemon only produces a set number of each of their products. They rarely offer discounts or clearances, making each item a hot commodity that is only offered temporarily.
This push has made Lululemon clients opt to buy now. If you wait too long with Lululemon, you may lose the chance to buy the product you’ve been eyeing, which causes demand to increase. The more demand for a product there is, the higher the manufacturer can charge.
The Benefits of Lululemon
Lululemon’s brand comes with its perks. From comfort to social status, here are the benefits of Lululemon.
The Comfort
Although it uses common materials, the Nulux and Everlux combination for Lululemon leggings does provide a more dry-wick, comfortable fabric for workouts. This fabric is also good for outlining curves – whether you have them or not – and is available in a wide array of both bright and dark styles.
The Ny magazine once wrote that Lululemon clothing offers a snug fit without squishing your internal organs. Just being flexible and hugging your curves without being too tight is an accomplishment for most activewear brands. Baggy sportswear doesn’t work well, especially with a yoga brand or anybody wanting to stretch and move their bodies into lots of different positions without your pants getting in the way.
The Status
Whether you’re into it or not, wearing Lululemon allows you to you join a type of secret social group. In the same way someone might notice you wearing a Dior dress or Chanel shoes, Lululemon has become the “it” brand when it comes to fashionable athleisure.
Many celebrities and athletes wear Lululemon clothing, including Camilla Cabello, Charli D’amilio, Lucy Hale and Addison Rae. The company has also partnered with several organizations, including the National Women’s Soccer League and the Boston Marathon. Lululemon is committed to providing quality apparel for athletes of all levels and are keen to maintain their high end status in the fitness fashion world.
Charity work
Lululemon are also a great company to support. They’re passionate about making a difference in the world, and they donate time and money to various charities and causes including many social wellbeing programs.
The Downsides of Lululemon
Lululemon has its cons like most other companies. From the eventual breakdown of its products to company controversies, here are Lululemon’s downsides.
Pilling of Material
Pilling is when your clothing gets small balls of fluff or fuzz on its surface. This usually happens in areas that experience the most rubbing or wear and tear. Shorter, synthetic fibers tend to pill the most, along with cotton.
For such a high price, many customers have been dismayed to find their Lululemon leggings pilling after extended use. Pilling has been reported in the brands Align range but it’s possible for other legging to pile over time. Currently Lululemon don’t accept returns of items that have pilling as they don’t see it as a quality issue, but this may change.
In comparison, Lululemon’s main competitor Athleta often offer a lifetime guarantee and will allow you to return clothing after you’ve worn it. pilling seems to be less of a problem with Athleta yoga clothing, but we aren’t convinced it’s too widespread with Lululemon because of the brands wide appeal and high quality fabrics.
The Company Controversies
Lululemon’s founder, Chip Wilson, has been put under fire in the past for his derogatory comments around overweight women and Asian minorities. The brand itself has more than 60% of its products produced in Asia, in factories that have claimed to experience abuse and promote child labor.
Is Lululemon Worth the Price?
Lululemon leggings cost almost 5 times more than an average pair of workout pants. If you’re a person who sticks to luxury brands for social status, brand experience and quality it could be the athleisure brand for you.
For the rest of us who enjoy sales now and then, Lululemon might not be worth the price. They utilise the same materials as almost every other fitness brand, and their products are not immune to pilling or eventual wear and tear. However a purchase from Lululemon is a treat and even though the materials they use are similar to other brands the style and fit is better than most competitiors.
Whether Lululemon clothing is worth the price also depends on whether you prefer their style to their competitors. Lululemon’s main competitor in athleisure clothing is Athleta, a brand who target fitness enthusiasts who enjoy working out at the gym or taking part in swimming and other sports. Lululemon is a little different from Athletes because their styling appeals more to yogis and people who enjoy the hippie vibes often linked with yoga.
