Lululemon's founder says yoga-wear giant has 'completely lost its way'

By Bill Peters

Lululemon puts its Get Low collection back online, a day after Chip Wilson blamed the board for the public backlash

Lululemon founder Chip Wilson took another shot at the company's board, saying it was steering the company in the wrong direction.

After Lululemon Athletica faced backlash over its new line of Get Low workout wear - whose online sales were paused and then resumed days later - founder Chip Wilson went off on the yoga-wear company and placed the blame squarely on the company's board.

The remarks in a LinkedIn post late Wednesday were the latest escalation in Wilson's fight to reshape Lululemon's (LULU) board, which he said has lacked vision as the company faces growing competition, tariffs and questions about fashion relevance.

"I've believed that Lululemon has lost its cool for some time, but it is now evident to me that the company has completely lost its way as a leader in technical apparel," Wilson said.

"For years, Lululemon's results (particularly in North America) have shown how the company has struggled to deliver products that are compelling and beloved; now it is unable to simply deliver products that work," he continued.

Lululemon said Tuesday it had recently paused online sales of its new Get Low collection of workout wear in North America, "to better understand some initial guest feedback and support with product education," after some customers complained the items were too sheer. On Thursday, the company said the collection was back online.

"Based on the learnings, we have updated our product education information to incorporate new guidance on fit, sizing, and features to better support guest purchase decisions," a Lululemon spokesperson said in a statement.

The guidance says to pair items in the collection with skin-tone, seamless underwear, and recommends "sizing up" for workouts. It also says that when the clothing is stretched, loops in some of the knitting naturally flex apart at areas of tension.

Shares of Lululemon rose 2.5% on Thursday, but were headed for a third straight weekly decline. The stock has tumbled nearly 50% over the past 12 months.

In the LinkedIn post, Wilson said he didn't blame Lululemon's employees. The fault, he said, lay with Lululemon's board, which he said lacked experience in creative businesses, was uninterested in product development and quality, and focused on "short-term, self-interested priorities."

"What product quality testing did the board review?" he said. "How often does the board review the product pipeline? Are leaders empowered to make the best product decision or simply pushed to the lowest cost decision?"

He said a "leading board" would have a brand product committee that would be asking these questions.

Over recent weeks, Wilson has launched a proxy battle against Lululemon, saying last month that he was nominating three director candidates to "restore shareholder confidence." Wilson last month cheered the ouster of Lululemon's chief executive. Semafor reported on Monday that Wilson was trying to force private-equity firm Advent off Lululemon's board.

Lululemon has said some of its offerings have gotten "too predictable," and has tried to juice consumer demand with new products. But it has run into quality issues along the way. In 2024, it pulled its Breezethrough leggings. In 2013, it recalled a popular line of yoga pants after issues with the fabric being too sheer.

Wilson, as MarketWatch reported in 2013, suggested to Bloomberg that the sheerness issues then were an issue with some women's thighs. When an interviewer asked: "Not every woman can wear a Lululemon pant?" Wilson replied: "I think they can, it's how you use it."

Wilson later apologized for the remarks, which offended some customers, and stepped down as chairman of Lululemon's board. He left the board altogether in 2015, but still holds a sizable stake in the company.

Some Wall Street analysts said the brief pause in sales for the Get Low selection raised deeper issues about product quality at Lululemon.

BNP Paribas analyst Laurent Vasilescu, in a note on Tuesday, highlighted other miscues for the company - including a push into self-care and an acquisition of connected-fitness platform Mirror that turned out to be a flop, as well as footwear and bodywear offerings that didn't attract sufficient interest.

"We look forward to hearing more about the new CEO from the company," Vasilescu said. "However, once a new CEO is announced, we believe there needs to be a real change in the design team, following the number of product issues that continue to unfold."

-Bill Peters

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01-22-26 1639ET