Odds are, you own at least own piece of Lululemon apparel. The champion of athleisure, who ushered in the (ever-continuing) era of the stretch pant in the early 2000s, has essentially created and maintained mainstream control over the legging category, expanding with rapid growth and success into a full range of active and lounge wear, yoga mats, accessories and more (although not without its speedbumps).
For 2022, the brand is unveiling a bold new step forward. Lululemon is launching footwear, thus closing the loop on fully outfitting athletes head-to-toe.
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Lulu is keeping a tight lid on its foray into footwear, with only minimal details available: The new venture was inspired in part by the brand’s 2017 collaboration with APL, which proved to the athleisure giant that its consumers are interested in footwear. The footwear itself has yet to be revealed, with only a patent drawing available to give clues as to what the final product may resemble.
United States Design PatentAnother clue as to which direction the footwear frenzy could take? There was a cryptic mention of Lululemon tennis-specific footwear in this article, announcing the brand’s new partnership with tennis phenom Leylah Fernandez. Lululemon signed Fernandez in early 2022, and plans to launch tennis-specific apparel with the 19 year-old as the face of the new venture.
While there’s excitement around the new opportunity, Lululemon has remained relatively mum on the subject, with CEO Calvin McDonald telling investors in their Q3 earnings call “just as a reminder and consistent with how we’ve shared it, it’s a test and learn for us.”
