Lululemon Removes Leggings After Complaints Of Giving Wearers ‘Long Butts’

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Lululemon will have to give leg day a miss, having pulled its Breezethrough leggings mere weeks after launching them. The bottomwear, hyped by the athleisure giant as a “cool innovation alert” for subscribers of its mailing list, amassed a chorus of complaints about a rather unfortunate design detail.

The US$98 leggings, released on July 9 and touted for their lightweight fabric and quick-drying material, featured a V-shaped back seam that, according to online reviews, was less flattering and more “whale tail/giant arrow pointing to my butt crack,” as one Reddit user bluntly put it. 

I spoke with a store rep today and learned that the Breezethrough leggings are one of their worst-selling new items. The fabric is good, the design flaw is in the back seam and makes the butt look completely asymmetrical. Pic for reference. pic.twitter.com/QLYvzRGQyN

— Supreme Bagholder (@supremebagholder on Threads) (@SupBagholder) July 26, 2024

TikTok was also awash with less-than-enthusiastic takes on the design, with one confused shopper stating that she would be returning the piece.

Other reviewers said the leggings were giving them a “long butt.”

This latest setback comes at a challenging time for Lululemon, whose stock has already fallen 50% this year, with a notable 16% drop in the past month alone. The leggings received an average rating of just 3.1 stars out of 5 from 112 reviews, with the back seam frequently cited as a major drawback.

This feedback has led Lululemon to pause sales and reevaluate the style.

In response to the criticism, a spokesperson for the brand told CNN that the company takes customer feedback seriously and plans to incorporate it into future designs.

[via CNN, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, images via various sources]