This year, Lululemon, a store that sells expensive workout clothes, had to recall their yoga pants because 17% of them were see-through. “Oh no!” cried yogis everywhere, as the rest of us rolled our eyes and told them to just go buy from a company that doesn’t sell $108 sweatpants, justifying the price tag with ultra-unique benefits like the ability to “roll [the waistband] down for an asymmetrical low-rise.”
So, when I heard that the company’s founder Chip Wilson, told Bloomberg that it’s basically women’s bodies that are at fault, I was unsurprised. I mean, Lululemon is basically the pretentious New York/Los Angeles adult version of Abercrombie, right? Wilson’s words:
“Frankly, some women’s bodies just don’t actually work for it. They don’t work for some women’s bodies… it’s really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there over a period of time, and how much they use it.”
This prompted a backlash from people who wish stores like Lululemon would actually stock for plus-size women—a measure the brand has consistently failed at, with stores carrying plus sizes out of sight and rarely restocking their supply. But honestly, the only question that it’s my mind: who cares?
Believe me, I get it. I hate when I go to a store, try on like 5 pairs of pants, and not one of them fits me. It can be stressful, embarrassing, and frustrating—it’s no fun.
But then I just do not return to that store because they do not carry my size. But I don’t need every store to carry my size, especially ones that carry an overpriced, defective piece of sh*t pants.
But it’s more than just how I feel about their actual materials — it’s also the fact that I don’t need Lululemon to support my body type because, hey, I don’t want to support Chip Wilson’s pocketbook.
I mean, hey, if the clothing he makes money off of “just [doesn’t] actually work” for bodies like mine or those of my friends, then cool. I’ll go somewhere that does; there are tons of those.
Obviously, major retailers changing how (and for whom) they produce clothing is a great thing — a wonderful thing, in fact! And one that we, as well as sites like us, will praise endlessly. But hey, if Lululemon doesn’t feel like changing, that’s okay.
Let them fall into inconsequential oblivion. It’s what happened to Abercrombie when its CEO opted to exclusively aim toward “thin and beautiful” customers; their stock prices fell consistently, even after King Douchebag Mike Jeffries kinda-sorta apologized.
High fashion may be a repetitive, often out-of-date industry, but commercial fashion must remain current. Some retailers will acknowledge the growing waistlines of American consumers, and some will not. Whether or not you think they should is somewhat irrelevant; how and where you choose to spend your money will speak the loudest.
