Lululemon’s Struggle With Menswear: It’s Not Just About the Men

Lululemon’s latest earnings disappointed investors: quarterly revenue growth slowed to single digits, full-year guidance was cut again, and the stock has lost more than 60% of its value from its peak.

Women’s wear, led by the iconic yoga pants, is still holding up. But the men’s line — once seen as Lululemon’s next growth engine — is stalling badly. As it turns out, men’s wallets are the hardest to open.

🚩 From Peak to Decline

Back in 2022, when Canada’s Olympic team marched into the Beijing Winter Games dressed in Lululemon, the brand’s market value briefly surpassed Adidas. But even then, growth momentum was fading. Inventory levels climbed, while upstart rivals like Alo Yoga and Maia Active nipped at its heels.

On paper, Lululemon looked overly dependent on women’s wear, with nearly 90% of revenue tied to that segment. Its $500 million bet on the Mirror fitness device contributed little, and the brand had virtually no presence in footwear.

For investors, men’s apparel and footwear were the two “unclaimed jackpots.”

🚹 Men Are a Tougher Sell

When CEO Calvin McDonald took over in 2019, he promised to double men’s sales by 2023 — and technically, he delivered. In fact, in 2021, men’s sales doubled, and by late 2023, growth even briefly outpaced women’s wear.

But beneath the headlines, the numbers tell another story: men’s revenue share only inched up from 23.5% to 25.2% over five years. Growth momentum has since collapsed, making the 2026 “double again” goal look increasingly unrealistic.

The strategy misfired. Women’s wear built its cult following around a clear lifestyle — yoga. For men, Lululemon shifted toward “athleisure comfort,” with its ABC pants designed for any occasion. But without a unifying community or cultural scene, the brand fell back on expensive endorsements.

Lululemon signed Lewis Hamilton, Frances Tiafoe, and other athletes, yet male brand awareness in the U.S. still hovered at a meager 13%. Marketing costs surged, but loyalty failed to materialize.

Footwear has been an even bigger flop: splashy product launches quickly faded into irrelevance. The Mirror device was shut down, children’s wear discontinued, and the brand’s big bets outside women’s leggings have yet to deliver.

⏳ Missed Opportunities

Founder Chip Wilson has long argued that Lululemon’s success was never just about “women’s wear” — it was about yoga. Through technical fabric innovations and cultural positioning, the brand created an entirely new category: the yoga pant.

But with menswear and footwear, Lululemon didn’t replicate that formula. It rushed into categories without a distinctive edge, leaving its brand diluted and easy for competitors to copy.

The company also failed to secure strategic acquisitions that might have cemented its moat. Wilson once pushed to buy Arc’teryx’s parent company and textile giant Eclat, only to be rejected. Today, rivals like Anta have scooped up those assets, reaping massive returns.

Lululemon, meanwhile, faces lawsuits from Nike over footwear patents, underscoring just how tough it will be to crack high-performance categories.

🎭 The Bottom Line

Lululemon’s ambition isn’t in doubt. What’s missing is another “yoga pants moment.” Menswear hasn’t delivered, footwear is stumbling, and diversification has yet to pay off.

For investors, the question is simple: beyond yoga pants, what else can Lululemon truly own?