If it doesn’t look good, don’t wear it.
Everywhere you look in Vancouver, you can see a sea of girls wearing Lululemon yoga pants. Women of all shapes and sizes love to sport the athletic garment because of their convenience and comfort. However, recently, Chip Wilson (pictured above), the founder of Lululemon, made a statement that the pants are not meant for everybody.
My classmate, Jennifer Yip, wrote a blog post regarding this statement. In her opinion, this statement was detrimental to the company, and not discriminate against women with larger builds. However, I think that, although the statement was slightly rude, it was not unfounded. I believe it is true that some people shouldn’t wear certain clothes. It’s comparable to saying that women with wider hips shouldn’t wear high-waisted bottoms. Yes, you can still wear whatever you want, but there are just styles of clothing that don’t suit specific body types. It’s not exactly discrimination, merely aesthetic appeal.
Also, there might be an advantage of creating so much attention over the exclusiveness of the product. It could lead some girls to believe that are “cooler” because they can wear Lululemon pants, which may lead them to purchase more. This may not be a popular opinion, but it could be a good play for the business.