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- [00:10]
David Brown
It's November 5, 2013. Lululemon's founder and chairman Chip Wilson is talking to a journalist for the Bloomberg TV program Street Smart. Wilson's come on the show to do damage control. Back in March, complaints started flooding in about their iconic yoga pants. Customers said they became see through whenever they moved or stretched in them. The company issued a recall of 17% of its pans, offering customers a full refund. The debacle led to a roughly $2 billion loss in market value and a $67 million loss in revenue. Nine months later, Lululemon is still fighting to regain trust from both investors and customers. Wilson is supposed to explain what happened and offer a sense of transparency, but before long, the interview goes off the rails.
- [01:01]
Chip Wilson
There have always been pilling. The thing is that women will wear seat belts that don't work, or they'll wear a purse that doesn't work, or quite frankly, some women's bodies just actually don't work for it.
- [01:13]
David Brown
The female journalist across from Wilson looks shocked. He just blamed the problem on women's bodies, women who dominate his customer base, and then he doubles down.
- [01:25]
Chip Wilson
It's really about the rubbing through the thighs. How much pressure is there in trying.
- [01:30]
David Brown
To dig Lululemon out of a scandal? Wilson has just started a new one. His comments make international headlines and launch a backlash. Commentators offer their own critiques of Wilson, like this one from Bloomberg tv.
- [01:45]
Bloomberg TV Commentator
The reality is when you run a company like that and your main consumer is this female audience, you just can't say stuff like that. You just can't.
- [01:57]
David Brown
Female customers are furious at the suggestion that their bodies are to blame for Lululemon's quality control issues. Chip Wilson has been making inflammatory comments to the press ever since he founded Lululemon in the late 1990s. But while those statements were once quickly forgotten, now they're sticking. The company has grown too big to have a figurehead this unproduct and brash. This time, Wilson may have gone too far. This message is brought to you by Apple Card.
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- [03:16]
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- [03:20]
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- [03:22]
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- [04:19]
David Brown
From Wondery I'm David Brown and this is Business Wars. In our last episode, Chip Wilson discovered an untapped market. Young women willing to buy high end yoga apparel. Wilson founded Lululemon, building it into a hugely successful brand with hundreds of locations across North America. But now there's increasing chatter from investors and the media that Lululemon has outgrown the man who started it. As the company tries to part way Wilson, it will also face competition from new players in an increasingly saturated market. Because while Lululemon had virtually no competitors when it started back in 1998, by the 2010s rivals are poised to cash in on the yoga pants craze. Big companies like Nike, Adidas and the Gap are making their own yoga clothing, while new athletic wear brands are gaining traction. Lululemon will have to fight to stay relevant in a Chang without losing brand identity along the way. This is episode two, Mirror Mirror. It's November 2013, just a few days after Wilson's controversial statements in his Bloomberg TV interview. Women are speaking out, saying they feel like Wilson blamed their body shape instead of owning the company's quality issues. So Wilson is once again in damage control mode. He films an apology video standing in front of a white wall and speaking directly to the camera.
- [06:22]
Chip Wilson
I'm sad. I'm really sad. I'm sad for the repercussions of my actions. I'm sad for the people of Lululemon who I care so much about.
- [06:31]
David Brown
Lululemon posts the minute long video online, but viewers point out it's missing something. At no point does Wilson apologize to the customers he's offended. Instead, he exclusively apologizes to Lululemon employees, saying he regrets causing so much backlash for the company. This non apology supercharges the Lululemon hate storm. ABC News surmises it might be the worst corporate apology of all time.
- [07:02]
Experian Advertiser
This so called apology is this morning making Lululemon's problems worse.
- [07:06]
Bloomberg TV Commentator
And it starts out so well.
- [07:07]
David Brown
Founder Chip Wilson Just a note here. Transparency and owning up to mistakes, that's one thing. But a bad apology? Well, that can be worse than no apology at all. Customers don't want to hear that you're sad for yourself or your employees. They want acknowledgment as much as accountability. A rule of thumb say what you did wrong, who it hurt, and how you'll fix it. Corporate apologies are a bit like yoga poses, awkward if you force it. Graceful when you're grounded in sincerity. This one fell flat on its face. It's particularly bad timing for the company. Just a few months ago, Lululemon CEO Christine Day announced she was resigning. She's staying on as acting CEO until the company hires a replacement. But her resignation is a big blow for Lululemon. Day has had a wildly successful five year tenure during which she tripled revenues and quadrupl the number of stores. Her departure is chalked up to her tension with Wilson, who constantly questioned her leadership skills. Lululemon is in a tender state as it tries to find a replacement CEO while recovering from months of endless controversy. But the more Wilson tries to help, the more he adds fuel to the fire. Up until now, Wilson's offensive comments have largely flown under the radar. But after his repeated blunders surrounding the Sheer Pants Saga, Journal and Consumers Look Into Past Missteps. Listicles start getting published with titles like eight Outrageous Remarks by Lululemon Founder Chip Wilson and Lululemon founder Chip Wilson's five Most Controversial Quotes. The lists include the fact that Wilson spent the early 2000s repeatedly telling journalists he put so many Ls in the company's name because he thought it was funny to hear Japanese people try to pronounce it. They also include his pro trial labor commentary, his negative opinion of plus sized clothing, and his belief that the birth control pill and women smoking led to higher divorce rates. Just to name a few, higher ups at Lululemon finally start to acknowledge Wilson is weighing down a company that should be setting itself up for the future. It's December of 2013 at the Lululemon headquarters in Vancouver, Canada. The board is gathered for a meeting, and Wilson notices that acting CEO Christine Day has added a last minute item on the agenda. She wants to discuss the Bloomberg interview. Day has limited time left with the company, and she wants to use it to address the elephant in the room. Wilson. Day uses the meeting to make her case against him. Wilson fights back, arguing that she and the board are treating him like a scapegoat, blaming him instead of the real issue, bad governance. He's convinced the board will side with him and agree that Day is blowing things out of proportion. But Wilson has made yet another miscalculation. He's overestimated the board's loyalty towards him. There's an important lesson here. Let's call it the Founder's Dilemma. There comes a point where the skills that build a company aren't the same ones needed to run it. Founders often mistake vision for entitlement, thinking without me, this brand doesn't exist. At one time, that may have been true enough. But as we've seen time and again, growth or even survival depends on letting others evolve. The company boards exist to protect shareholders from a founder's blind spots. The lesson, don't confuse ownership with stewardship. Many founders are reluctant to accept this, but there's almost always a time for a change, even at the very top. And for Lululemon, well, that time has come. The meeting ends with a vote and the executives come to a decision. Wilson can stay on the board, but he will be removed as chairman on December 10. Lululemon announces the change, though they say Wilson willfully resigned on the same day. They also announce Day's replacement, Laurent Potterman. He's chosen for his track record in apparel. He was previously CEO at Burton Snowboards and president at Tom's Shoes. During his tenure at Toms, he led the company through a massive global expansion. Wilson is convinced the board is making a huge mistake. He thinks people only love Lululemon because of the company culture, a culture that he created. Now Lululemon will have to prove they can survive without him. It's April of 2014, four months after Wilson stepped down and Potavan was announced as CEO. At the Royal Opera House in London, 400 people have gathered for a giant yoga class. As they follow the instructor into a downward dog pose, a 24 piece live orchestra plays. This free event is part of Lululemon's attempt to introduce itself to a brand new international market. The company just opened a 3,000 square foot store in a touristy London neighborhood, marking its first ever expansion into Europe. Throughout the rest of 2014, Padavan plans to open 42 more locations across Europe and Asia, women in Canada and the U.S. have started wearing Lululemon's trademark black leggings everywhere, not just to the gym. Padovan is hopeful these new European markets will similarly embrace athleisure, fueling further growth for the company. Women overseas aren't the only customers Potavin has in his sights. For a long time, targeting only women was seen as enough. But if they want to be an apparel powerhouse on par with brands like Nike, Padovan knows Lululemon needs to expand its product offerings. In 2014, for the first time, Lululemon launches a clothing line for men. The company has been testing the waters with men's items for a little while, but this is the first line devoted to menswear. And it's not just yoga clothing either. The new line includes running shorts and gym pants, and it's a hit. By mid-2015, more than one in every seven dollars spent at Lululemon is on men's items. You know, the challenge here is how do you expand your circle without breaking it, right? Lululemon proved that you can move into men's apparel without alienating the yoga core women who built the brand. But you've heard the phrase, timing is everything. Well, one good rule might be this. Expand after your base is strong enough to absorb a misstep too soon and you look unfocused. Too late and someone else gets to eat the opportunity that might have been yours. If you're an entrepreneur, you might ask yourself this question. What adjacent market would my core customers cheer me for entering? When Wilson was at the helm, he was convinced that Lululemon needed to stick to its founding culture to survive and set itself apart through a singular focus on yoga clothing for women. But the strong revenue from the menswear line proves that the company can expand its horizons while keeping its base happy. And as the competition heats up, Lululemon will need this more than ever.
- [15:14]
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- [16:53]
David Brown
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- [16:57]
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- [18:05]
David Brown
It'S September 2014 at New York Fashion Week the Gap is premiering its 2015 spring collection for Athleta, the athletic wear brand it acquired back in 2008 after a failed attempt to buy Lululemon. Athleta started off as mostly a yoga clothing brand, but now, like Lululemon, it's also expanding into other kinds of sporty clothing. On the Runway, Athleta clad models do ballet and hip hop routines, while others jog and do parkour. The message is clear. Athleta is not just a yoga brand. The Gap has been struggling for a while with its core brands, Old Navy and Banana Republic, floundering. It hopes that by betting big on the growing athletic wear market, it can save itself. But Athleta is tiny compared to the towering giant of Lululemon. Despite the controversies that plagued it in the early aughts, by the mid 2010s, Lululemon is dominating the industry. Between 2014 and 2015, sales rise 16%, from $391 million to $453 million. The brand has nearly 400 stores worldwide and is continuing to expand. And as Lululemon grows, so does the entire industry. A 2015 survey finds that teen girls now prefer yoga pants to jeans. Wilson's vision that women would someday wear the same pants they'd pull on for yoga to run errands or grab coffee has become a reality and one that appears to be here to stay. The Gap isn't the only company trying to get in on Lululemon's success. Nike moves aggressively into the women's athleisure space, estimating it can grow women's sales by 40%. And brands like Urban Outfitters and Under Armour quickly follow, all hoping to grab a piece of the booming market Lululemon helped create. At the same time, new brands are starting to challenge the established titans. They're targeting younger customers and are using influencers and social media to reach them. Alo Yoga, founded in California in 2007, is gaining traction. And in 2015, Vuari launches on the west coast with a focus on yoga and wellness. For now, Alo and Vuwari are relatively small, but they're about to become major disruptors. And just as fresh rivals are emerging, one familiar face is back in the news. In February 2015, two years after Wilson was ousted as chairman, he releases a statement saying he's officially leaving Lululemon's board of directors altogether. But the company's leadership troubles are far from over. It's February of 2018, three years after Chip Wilson resigned, and there's another storm brewing at Lululemon. The company just announced that CEO Laurent Potovan is resigning, effective immediately. Other board members will cover for him while they look for a replacement. Under Potovan, Lululemon had a record breaking year in 2017 with a net revenue around $2.6 billion. This exceeded expectations, which is why this morning's news is so shocking. In a statement, the company says that Lululemon expects all employees to exemplify the highest levels of integrity and respect for one another, and Mr. Potavin fell short of these standards of conduct. Over the coming days, more details come to light. Employees allege Potavan had an inappropriate relationship with one of Lululemon's female designers, and he's accused of perpetrating toxic behavior at the company. Many view Lululemon's refusal to say what happened outright as a confusing misstep, especially since the MeToo movement is gaining steam. At this time, Lululemon shares tumble more than 3%, but quickly recover. And now the company will have to work through yet another change in leadership. It's April 2019, and it's Lululemon's analyst day in New York City, a chance for the company to update investors and share plans for the future. It's one of the first big events featuring Lululemon's new CEO, Calvin McDonald. He was appointed in August 2018 after the company went six months without a chief executive. McDonald was formerly the CEO at Sephora, the beauty chain that had more than $8 billion in revenue in 2017. At analyst day, McDonald outlines the company's aggressive growth plan for the next five years. Lululemon plans to double men's sales and digital sales and to quadruple international sales. It also plans to start making its own running shoes as competition in the women's athleisure space heats up. Lululemon wants to stay at the top, so they're shifting from a yoga pants centered company to a company that does everything. But they'll have to find a way to differentiate themselves from the other catch all athletic brands and the trendy newcomers that are dominating social media and pushing their celebrity endorsements. A year after this ambitious plan is laid out, Covid hits and it's like rocket fuel for Lululemon's growth.
- [23:56]
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- [24:38]
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- [25:43]
David Brown
Foreign It's May of 2020 and Australian Fitness influencer Chloe Ting is adding the finishing touches to the workout videos she just made for her YouTube channel. Hey guys, welcome to the 2020 Summer Shred Challenge. Finally, she hits post and watches as likes and comments immediately pour in. Soon this video will have over 70 million views. One commenter posts OK, but why is no one talking about how cute Chloe's outfits are? The question garners 10,000 likes. Other Comments pop up asking where she got her cute leggings. Some viewers even go to the Chloe Ting Reddit to debate where certain outfits come from. Gymshark Aloe Lululemon now we've entered the era where the endorsement of one influencer can drive a brand's sales exponentially. And the trend is buoyed by COVID lockdowns with people stuck at home. And chronically, online fitness influencers like Chloe Ting have surged in popularity during COVID People are working out at home, they're purchasing subscriptions to online classes led by influencers and fitness gurus, and they're also buying outfits to match. Sales of Athleisure have skyrocketed. Two months earlier, writer David Mack tweeted, my boyfriend has been wearing sweat so much he started calling normal pants hard pants. The term catches on and more and more people eschew jeans and other constricting clothing as comfort becomes king. And Lululemon has plenty of soft pants to sell them. By June 2020, Lululemon' is over $300 and with the new revenue they invest in technology. In June, Lululemon announces it'll buy a company called Mirror for $500 million. Mirror is a fitness startup that sells wall mounted devices that allow you to stream workout classes at home, ranging from yoga to beginner Crossfit. The device retails for about $1,500 and is part mirror, part screen. It allows people to see and hear their fitness instructors while also seeing their own reflections so they can check their form. As part of the acquisition, Lululemon will stream its own workout classes on the Mirror device. Sounds pretty cool, huh? What do you think of this idea? You know we've seen this over and over again, right? When times are good, companies love to snap up shiny new toys, startups, gadgets, side hustles. But every acquisition comes with hidden homework, new expertise, new supply chains, new risks. Lululemon Buying a tech device company is a little like Apple buying a shoe brand. It might look strategic if you squint hard enough, but to investors, it can smell like a distraction. If an expansion doesn't build on your existing strengths, it just might end up draining them. The real discipline may be in saying no. Even when that shiny object seems irresistible, some analysts are wary of Lululemon's move into devices. They wonder, is this the right move for an apparel company? Or is it a panicked response to the emergence of more and more athleisure brands? Alo Yoga, for example, is taking off and drawing in new customers with its own virtual workout clash. And two months after Lululemon acquires Mirror, Levi's purchases Beyond Yoga, another rising athletic wear brand, for a reported $400 million. Beyond Yoga is mostly an online business, but its sales have more than doubled in the past three years. Suddenly, it seems like everyone wants a piece of Athleisure. They're seeing success too, which could limit Lululemon's future growth. It's September 2022 on Bloor street, part of a busy shopping district in Toronto, Canada. Crowds of young women file in to celebrate the grand opening of a brand new Alo Yoga location. It's a bright space with white walls, high ceilings and wooden accents. Racks are filled with pastel colored yoga clothing and a diffuser sprays a gently scented mist. Alo has recently started expanding into brick and mortar. They have 13 stores in the U.S. the Toronto shop is their first ever international location. The brand is centered around community, kind of like Wilson's original vision for Lululemon. Aloe also offers virtual and in person yoga classes and claims it's focused on holistic well being. Its goal is to make customers feel like Aloe is more than a brand, it's a way of life. Aloe stores are called Sanctuaries, and it sells skin care products and home products in addition to clothing. Although they have 14 sanctuaries, 90% of Alo's business is done online. The company is seeing exponential growth there, with sales rising from 200 million in 2020 to over $1 billion in 2022. Celebrities like Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber have been sporting aloe everywhere. Aloe is still small compared to Lululemon, which pulled in over $8 billion last year. But it's starting to eat into the high end Athleisure market Lulu had previously dominated. As Aloe plans to keep expanding into Canada, Lululemon fights back. It announces it'll be building a brand new three story flagship location in Toronto, just a block away from Alo's new location. It's 2023, around three years after Lululemon spent $500 million to acquire Mirror, and it's becoming increasingly clear that Lululemon's big leap into the tech space isn't paying off. Within a year of investing into mirror pandemic, restrictions started easing up and people returned to gyms and in person classes. Lululemon's attempt to capitalize on at home workout devices is considered too little too late because even those who still work out from home aren't necessarily willing to spend over $1,000 on a device. Mirror sales are well below expectations. Lululemon quietly shifts their focus to digital workout classes that don't require the mirror device. Throughout 2023, they let go of 220 employees from the Lululemon Studios arm, which operated their mirror initiatives. Despite the fumble, Lululemon is still performing well overall. After 25 years of dominating the market it created, brand loyalty is still high. The company has grown to 650 stores worldwide with plans to keep expanding. After earning $8 billion in 2022, it's aiming for revenues of $12 billion by 2026. And while it's cutting back on its own at home services, the company announces a multi year strategic partnership with Peloton. Seems like a smart match. Peloton, already a leader in digital workout classes, will provide fitness content for the Lululemon studio app, while Lululemon will provide Peloton with athletic apparel for its instructors. Once again, Lululemon is proving that it's virtually unstoppable. By the end of 2023, it's the seventh largest apparel company in the world. But even as Lululemon cements itself as a global powerhouse, its founder still isn't ready to let go. It's late 2023 in New York City. Chip Wilson, Lululemon's founder, hasn't been involved in running the company in nearly a decade. He spent that time living with his family in a mansion in Kitsilano, the very same Vancouver neighborhood where Lululemon was founded 26 years ago. Though his circumstances are a little different now. He's a billionaire and his house is the most valuable home on the entire Canadian West Coast. Today, Wilson is reflecting on his legacy. He's in Manhattan to meet with forbes journalist Jemima McAvoy. The two are set to discuss his career and what he's been up to since leaving Lululemon. Wilson has been looking for a new venture to get passionate about. He's backing another sportswear company and getting into real estate. But to McAvoy's surprise, he isn't interested in discussing those projects. At least not as interested as he is in discussing his anger and resentment towards Lululemon. Wilson is bitter about the money he feels he lost by leaving the company too soon. He feels like he missed out on fully capitalizing on his own creation, and he hates the company's new direction. During the interview, he returns to the same topic that helped push him out as Lululemon's chairman, women's bodies. He says he's against the whole diversity and inclusion thing in modern Lululemon ads, complaining that many of the models look sickly and not inspirational. Then he adds, I think the definition of a brand is that you're not everything to everybody. You've got to be clear that you don't want certain customers coming in. Wilson continues to get Lululemon into hot water, even nine years after leaving the company. His comments spark an immediate backlash, with many calling for boycotts. Lululemon responds with a statement clarifying that Wilson is no longer part of the company and his views don't reflect company values. Ultimately, the boycott doesn't stick. Lululemon earned revenues of over $10 billion for the first time in 2024 and is on track to hit its $12 billion target by 2026. Still, slowed growth and an increased level of competition have some investors worried. Lululemon's stock price, which peaked at $511 in 2023, has since fallen below $200. Some analysts believe that Lululemon's rapid expansion into new products hurt its brand identity. Without Yoga as its main focus, well, it's no different than any other athletic wear company. Some people call this the identity trap. Success can tempt a company into thinking it can be everything to everyone. But you know, every brand has a center of gravity. Lose that, and customers can't tell you apart from the pack. The paradox here? Growth requires expansion, but credibility? That requires focus. Think of growth like a tree. The branches can stretch as far as they like, so long as the trunk keeps it firmly grounded. Meanwhile, competitors are still gaining ground. Aloe has continued its aggressive expansion, becoming Lululemon's number one rival in the activewear market. Since Aloe is privately held, we don't know its exact revenue, but the brand now has over 130 stores worldwide. Other companies, like Worry and Beyond Yoga, have also rapidly expanded, further crowding the market almost three decades after Chip Wilson first envisioned a pair of black yoga pants women could wear anywhere, Athleisure is now a 400 billion dollar market, one that's projected to double within the next 10 years. From Wondery, this is episode two of How Lululemon won Athleisure for Business Wars. We've used many sources for this season, including reporting from Forbes and the Globe and Mail. A quick note about the recreations you've been hearing. In most cases, we can't know exactly what was said. Those scenes are dramatizations, but they're based on historical research. I'm your host, David Brown. Our story was written by Gabrielle Joliet. Sound designed by Kyle Randall. Fact checking by Will Tablet. Our producer is Tristan Donovan of Yellow Hand. Our managing producer is Desi Blaylock. Our senior producer is Emily Frost. Karen Lowe is our producer emeritus. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marsha Louie. For wondering.
- [38:58]
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