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As the footwear industry stomps on, Lululemon is rolling out its first running shoe. Its $148 Blissfeel sneakers will be available starting March 22 online and in select stores in North America, mainland China, and the UK.
- The US footwear industry had a record-breaking year in 2021, with spending topping $100 billion, according to the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, a 23% jump from the year before.
Ladies first: Lululemon’s first shoe, announced earlier this week on International Women’s Day, is specifically designed for women. (A footwear line for men will debut next year.)
- In 2020, women accounted for 69% of the company’s sales.
In a statement, chief product officer Sun Choe noted that kicking off with this consumer base is an “opportunity to solve for the fact that, more often than not, performance shoes are designed for men and then adapted for women.”
- CEO Calvin McDonald said in 2019 that Lulu was developing an in-house shoe collection following its collaboration with sneaker label APL circa 2017.
+1/-1: The competition for foot loyalty is fierce. Neil Saunders, retail analyst and managing director at GlobalData Retail, noted to CNN that “people are very wedded to brands like Nike, so Lulu is going to have to differentiate strongly if it wants to make an impact.”
NPD Group VP and Senior Sports Industry Advisor Matt Powell thinks Lulu can carve out a place in the industry. “These are not fashion shoes,” he told Footwear News. “These are really built for performance.”—JG