Lululemon founder Chip Wilson has criticized the company for its continued push towards inclusivity.

  • grte
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    27
    ·
    5 months ago

    This guy has a history of being an asshole. It’s really bothersome that one of Canada’s most successful apparel companies enriches this person.

    • undercrust
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      5 months ago

      Don’t worry, it’s not a Canadian company anymore and hasn’t been for a while now

  • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    27
    ·
    5 months ago

    Reminds me of the owner of Abercrombie, he’s the same way. He also says he doesn’t want ugly people wearing Abercrombie, but the dude looks like a bridge troll with a meth addiction

  • Rob Bos
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    16
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    5 months ago

    Is this the same guy who (supposedly) specifically chose the name Lululemon because Asian people would have a hard time pronouncing it?

    edit: which it mentions in the article, hahah

    • BCsven
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      5 months ago

      I couldn’t find that in the article?? Previous articles said it was named after LuLu Island (Richmond BC) and they chose three Ls because L names in asian cultures was seen as desirable because it represented American words. That could all be BS, but that is what I read before all of Chip’s contraversal behaviours.

  • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    12
    ·
    5 months ago

    Douchebag is gonna douchebag. I’m sure Lululemon is just praying he’ll get hit by a bus or something.

  • KaTaRaNaGa@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    5 months ago

    I think [Wilson’s] point is that the brand has an exclusive image and he’s saying that they shouldn’t want to be all things to all people, which is a place where the Gap brands live," Schwartz said. "There are, however, multiple benefits to having an inclusive brand image and a limit to how many wealthy, fit, young women you can sell to.

    Chip’s point, as quoted in the article, seems to be a comment about brand positioning. And the criticism seems to be on two levels:

    • a brand positioning retort (quoted above)
    • a DEI retort that also frames him as a jerk

    As a comment on positioning, what he said is Marketing 101.

    Not sure if what he said was taken out of context, though, because his actual interview is a different Forbes article behind a paywall.

    So is he insensitive, or talking about marketing basics, or both? I think it’s hard to tell.

    • tacosanonymous@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      5 months ago

      Chip named the company with so many Ls to make it sound western to Japanese buyers then thought it was funny to hear them try and pronounce it.

      He’s a dick.

      Also, his opinion means fuck all since he let the company go public in 2007.

      • BCsven
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        5 months ago

        He shows he is a dick, but his statements are marketing deciders. Like we coukd sell plus sizes but larger thighs would rub and pill the material, doing 2 things: forcing a different material to resist wear thus changing many manufacturing/auppliers, look of product, or leave it same as the rear of product line and have a brand look worn out. Rather than deal with either of those they chose to keep demographic narrow. This happens in various markets and products besides clothes, but typically the CEO is making decisions in private with more careful wording.