Chip Wilson has been making headlines in publications around the city, but he wrote a headline of his own in a Wall Street Journal op-ed about the very brand that he founded.
On Tuesday, a day before news broke that Wilson had been fined for his anti-NDP election signs that were put up before the last provincial election, he had an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal, suggesting that the brand he founded was in a decline, with the headline reading, “lululemon: In a nosedive.”
His op-ed states that while the popular brand still appears good on paper, “it’s losing its soul.”
Wilson also offered some suggestions on how the brand could recover, including putting the product and brand back at the centre. He also suggested the brand empowers “creative leadership over merchants.”
Wilson paid for his submission to be in The Wall Street Journal.
“lululemon can keep growing, but growth alone is not a healthy measure of success. The true measure must be innovation and brand reputation. When those are strong, growth comes naturally; when they’re not, growth halts. The path is clear, but only with a revitalized board of directors with diverse capabilities,” the piece concludes.
Wilson also took aim at lululemon in a LinkedIn post last year.
“I recently stated my sadness for lululemon’s slow march to becoming The Gap with cheap acrylic sweaters etc., to chase margin. Two days later, lululemon hired the creative director from The Gap,” he said in the post.
“lululemon is in a position to hire at the high end of the creative market. The lululemon brand is rooted in greatness and being spectacular. That is what the brand had stood for,” his post added.
lululemon responds to the opinion piece
We asked lululemon if it had a response to Wilson’s claims and got a response fairly quickly.
“We maintain regular communications with our shareholders to understand their perspectives and communicate our strategy, and our Board of Directors and leadership team continue to take actions to achieve our goal of driving long-term growth and shareholder value creation,” lululemon said in a statement.
“Chip Wilson has not been involved with the company for a decade, and he continues to make inaccurate and misleading statements about lululemon, our history, and our Board and leadership team. We are confident in our ability to capture meaningful growth opportunities ahead, and our Board and leadership team remain committed to acting in the best interests of the company and our shareholders.”
The op-ed also made the rounds on the lululemon subreddit, which led to a discussion about how the Vancouver-based brand could improve.
lululemon will soon open a nearly 300,000 sq. ft. office space above the former Nordstrom at CF Pacific Centre in downtown Vancouver.
Do you agree with Wilson?
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