Lululemon's a Lemon

There's an article in the NY Times about a company named Lululemon. I had never heard about Lululemon, but apparently they are a producer of high-end yoga wear and part of their appeal is that they purport to use natural ingredients such as seaweed in the their clothes. I say purport, because according to two NY Times tests of the clothes there is no seaweed in their clothing.

Now, my first reaction was well ... basically, "Sucka!" Because come on, people. You can easily do yoga in an old tee-shirt and sweats. And frankly, expensive yoga wear is kind of the antithesis of what yoga is all about- which is a kind of asceticism, a giving up of the material for a transcendental experience combining mind, body, and heart. Do you think those old yogis in India are wearing seaweed clothing? Well, they're not. They're barely wearing anything at all.

But after I thought about it, I realized that while maybe I would not choose to buy high-end yoga wear, that doesn't mean people are suckers for expecting to get what is advertised from a reputable company that is making gobs and gobs of money. (Incidentally, I tried to price some Lululemon clothing for y'all, but all the sites Google pulled up were all about Lululemon's stock which was sky high ... until the NY Times article came out. Lululemon: just like Enron only with a side of Nirvana.)

But if Lululemon claims that their clothes contain 24% seaweed fiber, then they SHOULD contain 24% seaweed fiber. And it's appalling that in this day and age, we are having to deal with this level of false advertising.