Lululemon’s VitaSea Has No Seaweed
According to The New York Times, it looks like Lululemon Athletica (famed for yoga sportswear using organic fabrics) isn’t living up to some of its claims. The newspaper issued some tests on VitaSea, a line that Lulu claims to contain 24% of seaweed fiber, which resulted in “no significant difference in mineral levels between the VitaSea fabric and cotton T-shirts.”
“Seaweeds have known vitamins and minerals, and we searched specifically for those vitamins, and we didn’t see them,” said Carolyn J. Otten, director for specialized services at Chemir Analytical Services, a lab in Maryland Heights, Mo. that tested a sample of VitaSea.
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Lululemon executives said that they had not independently tested the VitaSea material to see whether it lived up to the claims on Lululemon’s tags. Instead, it trusted the claims of its suppliers, executives said.
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Analysts said it is the responsibility of the companies to test all of their products.
“It’s frankly up to the companies to do sporadic product quality tests to make sure everything is being manufactured to the parameters they set,” said Sharon Zackfia, an analyst who covers Lululemon at William Blair & Co., an investment firm based in Chicago. “At the end of the day, it’s Lululemon’s name on the line.”
This is a gaffe that could harm the company’s image in which consumers rely on their brands to live up to their promises. The company flourished not because of savvy marketing campaigns, but by word of mouth. If Lululemon did in fact “lie” to their consumers about the seaweed use in the VitaSea line, it puts into question as to what else they could have lied about.
[...] Back And Stands By Their Products While shares fell shortly after the scathing article from The New York Times questioning the authenticity of Lululemon’s VitaSea line, CNW Group issued an official press [...]
Lululemon Fires Back And Stands By Their Products « Dualité - Montreal Fashion Blog
November 16, 2007 at 12:12 am
It is unfortunate that a company can be so wrong about one of its own products. However, I do believe that this brand will continue to rise in popularity. Let’s face it, as soon as celebrities start wearing lululemon pants the rest of the population will fall into line. Not to mention that the clothing makes women look incredibly hot. Bottom line is that people want to look good and most people don’t care whether something is made of sea weed or not if it gets the job done.
markvand
September 1, 2008 at 2:27 pm