Lululemon Blames Manufacturer For See-Through Yoga Pants

Lululemon is blaming the Taiwanese company that manufactures their yoga pants after customers complained that the material used was too transparent. The manufacturer, conversely, has said that they’ve been making Lululemon’s yoga pants to specification like they always have, and the latest batch was no different. Hm.

A recent batch of Lululemon’s signature yoga pants were said to be too transparent by some customers, with the company offering an apology and refunds for unsatisfied customers. But who’s to blame? Lululemon said that the Eclat Textile Company, a Taiwanese supplier that works with Gap and Under Armor, is to blame for the screw up.

But, Eclat said Tuesday that the scandalous batch of yoga pants were made with the same specifications as every other shipment they’ve sent to Lululemon, alleging that the yoga pant-peddlers made the whole thing up to save face.

“All shipments to Lululemon went through a certification process which Lululemon had approved,” Chief executive Roger Lo told The Wall Street Journal. “All the pants were manufactured according to the requirements set out in the contract with Lululemon.”

Oh boy. These things are always tougher when there isn’t an obvious scapegoat. On the one hand, you have Lululemon, which could have been ordering see-through yoga pants and selling them for $100 this entire time. On the other hand, it could easily be a one-off mistake from Eclat, but with such high-profile brand names as their customers, it’s hard to imagine they’d be so sloppy.

Lo said that Lululemon hadn’t been in contact with Eclat about the recall, even though they’re blaming them for screwing up the “level of sheerness.” But Lululemon said that they’ve been working closely with Eclat “to understand what happened during the period this fabric was made.”

The Atlantic Wire theorizes that there could potentially be a third party to shoulder the blame, like perhaps a company that supplies Eclat with the fabric for the yoga pants, but either way, Lululemon is looking at about $20 million in lost sales and tons of trendy New Yorkers sans yoga wear.

We should mention that a Credit Suisse analyst pointed out that this is Lululemon’s “fourth quality control issue in the last year.” Two out of three of those issues (not counting the current debacle) involved the sheerness of their yoga pants. Hm, indeed.

Who do you think is to blame? Lululemon for trying to peddle pornographic yoga pants, or Eclat for dropping the ball regarding their manufacture? Sound off!