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This is the unabashed confession of a Lululemon addict. However, it took some convincing before I became a stan of the wellness and athleisure brand. Its price point was my biggest gripe. As a semi-regular practitioner of yoga and Pilates, I simply could not understand why a pair of workout pants – the brand’s most popular Align pants, to be specific – had to cost me upwards of HK$880 (US$112).
Then on one exceptionally fine, bright day that had me in a devil-may-care mood, I got my first pair, and was forever hooked. After that day, I also became aware that I was far from the only person who felt this way – the Align fan club is huge. These pants are everywhere. I constantly spot them outside yoga and fitness studios – on nature trails, at neighbourhood parks, holiday resorts, shopping malls, airports and even in supermarkets.
Many people who own a pair seem reluctant to ever change out of them as they go about their day. And I completely get it – I am literally writing this piece in Align pants myself. So why are we so enamoured by these pants as to be willing to splurge on them? What sorcery is this?
The popularity, explained
According to Lululemon, the Align pants are one of its “most-loved products”. A quick look into the brand’s history informed me that these pants were originally created with yogis in mind. They promise to be almost weightless by design, in order to provide a next-to-nothing feel with gentle support both during and outside of yoga practices.
Most noticeably, these pants are exceptionally soft to the touch, with the term “buttery soft” often used to describe the sensation. That detail I can certainly attest to.
The paramount level of comfort provided by these pants is likely why many wearers, like myself, do not see the need to remove them after a workout, and are simply content to keep them on as they tackle the rest of their daily tasks.
A conversation with the Lululemon team confirmed that a substantial amount of innovation, intention and attention has gone into creating this activewear – from the raw materials created and used, to the thread, the stitches and their positioning. I also learned that the designers had obsessed over every detail and placement – for example, moving the back yoke of the pants over 16 times to get the fit right.
The waistband and how the pants feel around the seat were especially important to the designers, because they had found that “most people want to feel good around their waist and have that shape sustained over time”.
To sum it up, the Align pants have been designed with movement, comfort and flexibility in mind to support infinite expressions of well-being. And just like that, the guilt of having spent quite significantly on my last Lululemon haul dissipates.
The story of Align
Activewear that comprises so many desirable qualities was not created overnight. In fact, it took Lululemon designers three and a half years to formulate, test and launch the Align pants. The research and development for the raw materials alone took about 12 months, followed by an additional 12 months of design and extensive in-house fit testing.
This rigorous research was combined with real-life wear testing on Lululemon’s athlete ambassadors as well as non-athletes, in order to achieve the perfect on-body experience as the wearer moves. Those tests took another six months to complete.
A key part of the overall process involved the development of the brand’s own revolutionary Nulu fabric, which is what gives the Align pants their much-loved features, according to Lululemon’s chief product officer, Sun Choe. “Our guest-favourite Align pants, made from buttery-soft Nulu fabric, are engineered to deliver a weightless, unrestricted feeling,” she explains.
The Nulu fabric was introduced in 2015 to solve what the brand was hearing from consumers – they wanted to feel completely unrestricted, light and free while practising yoga. I learned from the Lululemon team that this fabric went through more than 10 iterations before every detail and placement were deemed to be perfect.
Nulu has been engineered with “super-fine, sweat-wicking yarns that are brushed with a unique technique” to create a surface that feels weightless on the body, responsible for that gentle support with a next-to-nothing feel. The fabric also includes Lycra fibres for a four-way stretch that allows the pants to maintain their shape and performance over time. The designers saw the development of Nulu as successfully unlocking a new sensory experience.
From beginning to end, the creation of the Align pants was driven by Lululemon’s innovation philosophy, called “Science of Feel”. Choe explains: “We know when you feel your best, you perform your best – this is fundamental to our point of difference, enabling us to be category originators and consistently solve for our guests’ unmet needs.”
The resoundingly positive buy-in for the pants has led to a vast expansion of Lululemon’s selection of Align products, which includes pants in various styles such as flare, shorts, crop, high-rise and wide-leg. Much to the delight of diehard Align fans, what essentially started as a fabric offering in the brand’s tights has evolved into a full-scale franchise, with a variety of styles that span joggers, shorts, tops and bras in addition to the pants.
Standing at a petite five feet tall (1.54 metres), I was especially thrilled when Lululemon rolled out the Asia fit range, which caters to those of us with differently built Asian bodies. Now, people like me can feel fully comfortable and confident during workouts or simply going about day-to-day life. Such options are always very much welcomed.
Feel it to believe it. Check out Lululemon’s Align pants and other products in the range here.ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tK%2FMqWWcp51kvbOx0p6lrZ2UZLmqssSsq7KklWTBsLzInKpoq6Skv7p5wKWgoKZflr%2B1tcKlnGhrYmaCdH%2BPaKOupKWhsq67zWaZnqukqLKtuMinnmaokaPBtA%3D%3D