Welcome to the first installment of Her Campus Carleton’s History of Fashion series! In the coming weeks, we will be looking at various clothing brands that HCCarleton executives love!
For our first installment, we are looking at everyone’s favourite athleisure brand, Lululemon! Lululemon was founded in 1998 in Vancouver, British Columbia by Chip Wilson. Originally, the very first Lululemon store was in the Kitsilano’s neighbourhood in Vancouver and was a “design studio by day and yoga studio by night.” During the day, the store was where the earliest products were designed and then they would use the space for yoga classes; AKA the group of individuals that the brand catered to at the beginning.
The brand and the first store in the Kitsilano neighbourhood were established to provide individuals with a welcoming place where people could come do yoga, learn how to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and learn how to be mindful while also being part of a safe community.
The first piece of clothing that the Lululemon brand designed was yoga gear for women. Now, Lululemon designs and manufactures clothing that is specifically designed for yoga, cycling, high-intensity workouts, as well as loungewear for both men and women. Other than clothing, Lululemon has begun designing and manufacturing accessories, like the famous Everywhere Belt Bag and the famous Lululemon socks. In more recent years, the Canadian athleisure brand has begun manufacturing its own line of personal hygiene products which include hand sanitizer, deodorant, and body lotion.
The once small, yoga-focused athleisure brand now has stores in countries all over the world with over 491 stores and brings in an impressive $6 million in sales every year. Chip Wilson’s yoga brand has obviously grown much larger than expected and I think we all have Chip to thank for our Lululemon favourites.
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