Written by Madesyn Hughes

Watching your favorite youtubers, walking around your neighborhood, going to school, playing sports, there was a point where Lululemon was absolutely everywhere. When Gen Z was young, Lululemon was the ultimate sign of fashion, especially for kids in sports. There was a point where you couldn’t go to school without seeing it on someone somewhere. However, think now about the last time you saw someone wearing new Lululemon. Maybe you’ve seen someone rewearing their old items, but when was the last time you heard someone raving about a new item Lululemon has come out with? Most likely not since the “BBL” Define Jackets, which were made popular relatively independent of Lululemon. The question is really, when did the Lululemon hype end and what was the reason? And the biggest question is: is this a forever change? Does Lululemon have a chance for a comeback?

This change for Lululemon was relatively recent, as they were leading the athletic wear market in 2022. In 2022, Lululemon was still going strong, as they had a 25% annual growth rate for women’s clothing and 30% for men. For a bit of background, Lululemon was founded in 1998 by Chip Wilson under the idea of being an athletic brand for women’s yoga wear. They started out as a design studio along with a yoga studio at different times of day. Their first item were “little black stretch pants” that were supposed to feel like cotton but still be breathable and durable. Back during the time Lululemon was founded, specifically the early 2000s, quality women' s athletic wear was difficult to find. Most brands on the market were regular clothing brands dabbling into athletic wear. This was also a time where athleisure was nowhere near as popular as it is now to wear casually, making the market of athletic wear much smaller. Lululemon saw this missing piece and tapped in, finding a way to combine lifestyle with quality athletic wear. Wilson found that women wanted athletic wear they would be able to wear to the gym and also errands, what is currently known as athleisure. They focused on creating a quality product that would withstand sweat, stink, and more. In doing this, they created a product that people could have forever, which many still have their Lululemon leggings bought during the 2000s-2010s, even after they’ve been worn past athletic-wear’s usual deadline. Lululemon patented “Luon” to do this, creating an extremely quality product for the market. Soon enough, with this focus on lifestyle and quality, people were seen wearing Lululemon everywhere. By 2022, Lululemon reported a net revenue growth to over $8 billion and predicted a continuous increase in their revenue. However, this was not the case.

Try to name as many women’s athletic brands on the market that you currently can. Alo Yoga, Set Active, Vuori, Beyond Yoga, DFYNE, Aritzia Butter, Gymshark, and so many more are brands that are taking customers from Lululemon. Lululemon may have been the brand to begin with true athleisure, but other brands have since caught on. With the rise in influencer culture, especially of girls making vlogs of their days running errands, athletic wear is constantly advertised by the stars of TikTok and Instagram. Especially with gym influencers and the increase in workout routine content, athletic wear is constantly featured online, causing consumers to be influenced to buy the clothing. However, how often is Lululemon the brand you see in these videos? It may be a brand people still think of, but it isn’t the one most marketed towards consumers, or the one most bought by their target audience. Their lack of place in the current world of athleisure has shown in their stocks, as between January and November of 2025, their stock fell 62%. Lululemon is no longer the “it-girl” athleisure or a growth story in the market. The main problems that have been recognized by analysts of Lululemon’s market decline is that they have had such a major increase in competition, but haven’t been keeping up with it. Their own CEO stated on an earnings call about their decline, “We have become too predictable with our casual offerings.” Lululemon’s seasonal drops and attempts at trends haven’t been succeeding and they have been relying too heavily on their own safety net of products. They recently had a polka dot style drop that did better than their other seasonal drops and received a good amount of attention online, but that isn’t even close to what they need to be doing to keep up with their competitors. Brands like SET Active and DFYNE have a hold on the trends in athletic wear and the reliance on “drops” in the current market. These are some of the main brands influencers market and therefore increase consumer consumption for the brand. These are the brands that are overtaking the competition and Lululemon for many. With Lululemon’s current inability to step up to necessary trends of marketing and production, they also have had speculation in quality decrease. Lululemon’s main brand message has been their high quality, which has definitely been seen in how long their product can last. However, customers have recently been voicing complaints online about worsening quality and not getting their money’s worth. With this speculated decrease in quality and inability to step up to their now more difficult competition, Lululemon doesn’t have a bright future at the moment. It seems that they could possibly fall off consumers' minds if they do not make a change.

Lululemon has been a well-loved brand, a part of many Gen Z adults' childhoods. Seeing it go is not something that people want to happen, but as they do not come to mind for people when shopping for athletic wear, this could be a possibility. As Lululemon doesn’t have the differentiation they used to, they need to make one to be able to come back and compete in a very difficult market. It seems they have begun to fight back, as it was very recently announced that their current CEO, Calvin McDonald, will be stepping down effective in early January, 2026 after a year of underperformance under his leadership. In doing this, they are focusing on finding a new CEO who has “a track record of driving companies through periods of growth and transformation to guide the company’s next chapter of success”, according to board chair Marti Morfitt in an interview with CNBC. With this change, Lululemon has a possibility of becoming what they used to be depending on who comes to aid them. Other brands have had comebacks greater than theirs with new leadership, for Lululemon it is really an understanding of their ability to get back into the minds of their target customers. Will they be able to do it?