The story
Founded by Chip Wilson in 1998.1
Lululemon was founded in 1998 by Chip Wilson in Vancouver, British Columbia, with its first standalone store opening in November 2000. In 1997, Wilson had been doing yoga and had an idea to make yoga apparel for women using a proprietary skintight fabric he developed to enhance their appearance. Wilson deliberately chose a name with multiple 'L's (Japanese: ルルレモン, romanized: Rururemon) because he thought it was funny to use a letter that Japanese speakers often have difficulty pronouncing. He said the name otherwise "means nothing" but included three 'L's to make it sound "Western" and "exotic" to Japanese buyers. He later remarked,
The reason the Japanese liked [my former skateboard brand 'Homeless'] was because it had an L in it and a Japanese marketing firm wouldn't come up with a brand name with an L in it. L is not in their vocabulary. It's a tough pronunciation for them. So I thought, next time I have a company, I'll make a name with three Ls and see if I can get three times the money. It's kind of exotic for them. I was playing with Ls and I came up with Lululemon. It's funny to watch them try to say it.
Chip Wilson remained CEO until 2005, when he sold 48% of the company to Advent International. Advent eventually sold out its stake but still has a board seat. Wilson remained on the board until 2015.
IPO and expansion
The company made its initial public offering in July 2007, raising $327.6 million by selling 18.2 million shares on the American Nasdaq. Christine Day, a former co-president of Starbucks, assumed her role as the company's chief executive officer in 2008. In December 2010, Lululemon recalled some of the store's reusable bags that were made from polypropylene, based on reports of high levels of lead. In 2012, Lululemon filed a lawsuit against Calvin Klein and supplier G-III Apparel Group for infringement of three of its design patents for yoga pants. The case was settled out of court the same year. In 2013, the company made its third consecutive appearance on Fortune's Fastest-Growing Companies list. In December 2013, founder Chip Wilson announced his resignation as chairman, and that the president of Toms Shoes, Laurent Potdevin, would become CEO. In 2018, Calvin McDonald became CEO of Lululemon Athletica. In Dec. 2025, it was announced that Calvin McDonald would be stepping down as CEO.
In 2014, Lululemon opened its first store in Europe, in Covent Garden, London. In February 2015, Wilson announced that he was resigning from the board, and Michael Casey, former lead director of the board, would replace him. In 2018, Laurent Potdevin resigned as CEO and from the company's board due to misconduct related to a relationship he was having with a then-employee and later contractor. In 2013, some customers complained that the clothing was of poor quality, with some items being "too sheer", having holes appear, and falling apart after a few uses. The same year, Lululemon recalled its black yoga pants that were unintentionally transparent and "too thin"; the recall, which amounted to approximately 17 percent of all women's pants sold in its stores, impacted its financial results. The resulting financial loss and damage to the brand led to the forced departure of the company's chief product officer, Sheree Waterson, and of its CEO, Christine Day.
From its founding through 2015, Lululemon incorporated concepts from the Landmark Forum into its leadership and development training. According to a company source, seventy per cent of managers are hired internally. Store managers are responsible for their store's layout, colour coordination, and community involvement.
Lululemon Athletica became a Nasdaq-100 company on December 24, 2018. In 2019, Lululemon announced an investment in MIRROR, a home exercise startup that sells interactive fitness mirrors with a camera and speakers for at-home workouts. Capitalizing on a growing trend of people conducting virtual workouts at home instead of going to a gym due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MIRROR was formally acquired by Lululemon on June 29, 2020, for $500 million and was rebranded as lululemon Studio. The companies also planned to create new content for the device, starting with meditation classes. Following the acquisition, Lululemon recorded a post-tax impairment charge of $442.7 million related to the acquisition at the end of the 2022 fiscal year.
In 2022, Lululemon became the official outfitter for the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic teams in a deal that will last until the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
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In 2024, Lululemon Athletica Inc. agreed to acquire the operations and retail locations of its franchise partner in Mexico for an undisclosed amount.
Proxy fight
In December 2025, founder Chip Wilson launched a proxy fight to remake the company's board while the company searched for a new CEO after its previous CEO, Calvin McDonald, announced he was leaving the company after roughly seven years. The move came after Lululemon's shares heavily underperformed the broader stock market in 2025 amid market share losses to competitors including Alo Yoga and Vuori.
Lululemon announced in April 2026 that Heidi O'Neill, a former Nike, Inc. executive, would take over as CEO on September 8 of that year.
In May 2026, Lululemon entered into a cooperation agreement with Chip Wilson, ending the proxy fight. Under the agreement, the company agreed to appoint Laura Gentile, former Chief Marketing Officer of ESPN, and former On co-CEO Marc Maurer to the board of directors. It also agreed to appoint an additional director with apparel and brand expertise. Wilson also agreed to standstill and non-disparagement provisions for about 18 months.
From Wikipedia’s article on Lululemon, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.9