// Sportswear retailer Lululemon has announced its move into the footwear market this year
// The business has started with a women’s collection first saying “more often than not, performance shoes are designed for men and then adapted for women”
Sportswear brand Lululemon has revealed its first-ever footwear collection for women, with a men’s collection to launch next year.
The company will launch its debut running shoe called Blissfeel on 22 March online and in select stores across the UK, North America and Mainland China.
Three additional styles will be released later in the year. Chargefeel – a cross-training shoe designed for gym training and short runs which will be available to buy alongside Restfeel – a post-workout shoe. While in the autumn the retailer will release Strongfeel, a training shoe designed to be used for “multi-directional movement”.
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Lululemon said that it applied insights and expertise gained over its 20 years of designing experience to create shoes that focused specifically on women’s requirements. It added that each design is meant to deliver a specific feeling and aims to create a balance of cushioning and support.
Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald commented: “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. 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.”
Sun Choe, chief product officer at Lululemon, said: “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.”
“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.”
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