By Nathalie Voit
Upscale Canadian athletic apparel brand Lululemon unveiled its first-ever footwear collection for women at a media event in New York on March 8, Business Wire reported.
The company’s debut running shoe, Blissfeel, will be available online and in select stores starting on March 22. The innovative “head-to-toe solution” will retail for $148. The new lineup will also include three additional styles to be introduced in the coming months: Chargefeel (a cross-training shoe designed for gym training and short runs); Strongfeel (a training shoe designed for multi-directional movement); and Restfeel (an elevated slide for post-workout).
“Footwear is the natural next step for us to expand and apply our long history of innovation in fit, feel, and performance, and it represents an exciting moment for our brand,” lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald said in the press statement. “We are entering the footwear category the same way we built our apparel business—with products designed to solve unmet needs, made for women first.”
Lululemon describes Blissfeel as a “running shoe engineered with an upper that supports movement and an energy-filled underfoot foam cushioning technology, which work together to make the miles feel effortless and blissful when running the distance.”
The sports bras and leggings maker said it drew on its 20-plus years of insights and expertise from designing its famed performance apparel to create the new revolutionary line of shoes. According to its website, Lululemon scanned over one million feet during research and development before launching the offering.
“We intentionally started with women first because we saw an opportunity to solve for the fact that, more often than not, performance shoes are designed for men and then adapted for women,” said Sun Choe, lululemon’s Chief Product Officer. “That didn’t sit well with us. Innovating for women is in lululemon’s DNA—now we’re bringing that same expertise to footwear, and women were part of this journey every step of the way.”
Lululemon’s foray into the sneaker business places it in a position to take on bigger sportswear rivals like Nike and Adidas, who enjoy substantial market exposure in the footwear category.
According to NPD Group sports industry analyst Matt Powell, the most popular sneakers for women are Nike, Skechers, Adidas, Brooks, and New Balance, CNBC reported.
The news comes as athletic footwear sales skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. In terms of market growth, sneaker sales in 2021 rose 17% for men and 25% for women over the year as more consumers opted to stay at home and wear more comfortable shoes, NPD Group said.
The company will roll out a men’s footwear collection based on the same forethought and concepts in 2023, according to the press release.
