Lululemon on Tuesday will introduce a women’s performance franchise, Lululemon Glow Up, which features sculpting products.
The core Glow Up line will launch with tights and a tank, with additional items to be added later this year.
In developing the collection, Lululemon collected insights from guests and ambassadors on how they wanted their training gear to look and feel. They found out people wanted looks that minimized the core, specifically the hips and waist and thighs, accentuated glutes and that felt compressive and shaping while maintaining general comfort and mobility.
With that in mind, they developed a training tight that they believe delivers a confident hold and a smooth look and feel, alongside sleek tops that complete the look.
The tights and tank from Lululemon’s Glow Up collection.
Courtesy of Lululemon
Multiple rounds of wear testing took place to gather feedback and fine-tune the design, which led to three main components behind Glow Up’s supportive feel and smooth, sculpted on-body look. They include a new version of Ultralu, a proprietary technical fabric introduced in 2017. The team spent a year reengineering Ultralu technology for Glow Up, to ensure that it’s supportive, molds to the body, is super stretchy, sweat-wicking and quick drying, easing transition from studio to street. The new waistband design features bonded construction, minimal seaming and an internal mesh layer for a snug, waist-hugging fit and reducing bulk for a smooth look and held-in feel. There are also laser cut hems that minimize dig.
Some looks from Lululemon’s Glow Up.
Courtesy of Lululemon
The tight retails for $118, and comes in such colors as black, desert red, passionate pink, lavender lux, magenta smoke, washed denim, true navy, espresso, Army green and solar gray. They are available in high rise, 25 inches, 28 inches and 23-inch crop.
The tank, which retails for $78, has a built-in-shelf bra intended to provide medium support for a B/C cup. It comes in black, desert red, lavender lux, solar gray and magenta smoke.
Sizes range from 0 to 14.
The introduction of Lululemon Glow Up will be accompanied by an exclusive two-week residency at 210 Lafayette Street in New York’s SoHo from Feb. 24 to March 9 that will bring together top celebrity trainers and influencers for an immersive fitness experience.
Guests will have the opportunity to train with well-known trainers such as Taryn Toomey (The Class), Kirk Myers (Dogpound) Akin Akman (AARMY) and Kira Strokes, along with Lululemon ambassadors and Peloton trainers such as Cody Rigsby, Adrian Williams, among others. Surprise DJs and notable personalities will join classes throughout the two week.
The studio will include a spin studio, training space, smoothie bar and on-site shop for the latest Glow Up products. Registration for classes will open to the public on Monday.
“Glow Up is all about feeling supported, confident and unstoppable in your training. With Glow Up Studio, we’re bringing that energy to life for our community — with access to world-class trainers, high-energy workouts and an immersive experience that goes beyond fitness,” said Kara Schlosser, vice president of North America Community. “This activation is a celebration of movement, music and community, and we can’t wait to see our guests show up, push their limits and have fun doing it.”
In a WWD interview with Calvin McDonald, chief executive officer of Lululemon Athletics, earlier this month, it was reported that annual sales stood at less than $3 billion when McDonald joined from Sephora in August 2018 and doubled to more than $6 billion by 2021. Now, Lululemon is ahead of plan to double once more and hit $12.5 billion before its 2026 target.
During the interview, he explained that in addition to the expanded core assortment, Lululemon brings newness to those looks with fresh colors, prints and graphics. Then there’s another layer, a test of a new fabric or silhouette that might last a season or two. And then at the top, McDonald said there’s “truly something that’s innovative” like “a new performance franchise.”
