Has Lululemon Created an Unrealistic Image of Body Size?

For years, Lululemon, the athletic wear giant, has worked to promote body positivity across its whole brand. Lululemon’s ads, website, and social media is full of models of all sizes. The fitness companies branding, and promotion of body positivity came specifically after the offensive comments of its founder, Chip Wilson. Wilson alluded to the fact that it was not the leggings that were the problem, but actually the size of the wearers legs. Lululemon has worked tirelessly to try and redeem itself in the eyes of its consumers and fans as the leading fitness wear company for everyone.

Unfortunately, being the most popular athletic wear company comes with a lot of responsibility. While its leggings are considered the most popular, a lot of people have found ways to criticize the company for them. Many people have noticed that while Lululemon claims to promote body positivity, they have actually created an unrealistic standard of what the ideal women should be. Up until 2020 Lululemon only carried sizes 2-12 for most of its products, the average woman in the United States wears a size 16. This led many consumers to feel that Lululemon is creating an unrealistic body size for their clothing.

Lululemon markets itself as a company that has products for everyone, not just smaller women, so it is questionable why they did not add more sizes to their most popular item until recently. It is essential for Lululemon to provide a large range of sizing options and not limit their sizes. It is not Lululemon’s job to determine who is the ideal person to fit into their clothing and who is healthy and who is not.

In recent years, many companies that cater to the stereotypical female beauty image have come under increased fire, and Lululemon is no different. This has caused many companies to evolve and incorporate more size options into their product lines. Unfortunately, it seems since its founding that Lululemon has continued to be in the spotlight for their companies actions, even though they try so hard to stop it. It is hard for a company to always be right when it comes to beauty issues, but as a leader in the industry, Lululemon needs to work a bit harder to truly embody what they claim to stand for.