It’s time for another installment of lululemon pushing the limits of what their customers will pay.
Lululemon has never participated in Black Friday in the typical sense. While they might have some markdowns floating around, they don’t do anything really out of the ordinary as far as deals and discounts are concerned. Instead, they roll out full-priced, special edition items. Last year, that included a bunch of items in shimmy simmer prints. That capsule didn’t sell very well and most of it wound up languishing on markdown for quite some time, so this year they cut the collection back to only 6 statement-making pieces. These styles should be available next Friday in stores, and I assume will also be online as of Thursday at the normal upload time.
They kept with the shiny theme, but went in a different direction: reflectivity. The thing about reflective gear, though, is that it’s not cheap. Like really, really not cheap.
The race to place run in ravishing reptile will be $68. The race with grace 1/2 zip will be $198, and the pace tights come in at a whopping $298.
The race with grace 1/2 zip and race to win run hat.
For something a little more subtle, both in terms of reflectivity as well as cost, these speed tights will be $198.
Another look at the ravishing reptile pace tights.
Besides the 5 items pictured, there is also an ear warmer for the last piece of the collection, priced at $38, but there’s no pic of it right now.
In their article about the collection, PopSugar writes: “If you count yourself among the Lululemon-obsessed, you’ll be happy to hear about its superluxe Black Friday limited-edition collection.” Uh, no PopSugar, no.
I get that it’s much more expensive to produce reflective workout clothes, and that there are legitimate functional benefits there. I get that they still want to maintain a certain profit on these styles–that’s business. I also get that some activewear designs command a high price tag–I did buy Lucas Hugh tights that one time, so I can’t really throw stones. Still, there’s something incredibly ironic about lululemon dropping staggeringly expensive special edition items on a day that’s supposed to be all about saving money and getting deals. It feels a little bit like lulu is trolling us: “hey, it’s Black Friday and I heard you like deals. Here’s a deal for you: $298 pants!” That takes some nerve.
There’s nothing about this collection that really appeals to me, so I’ll be sitting on the sidelines for another lulu Black Friday. Mostly, I’ll be very curious to see how this one plays out. Will people really buy into the hype? How long will these sit on the shelves, or will they sell like hotcakes? We’ll find out soon…
I have a 100% reflective run jacket that I snagged from an outlet back in 2013. While it looks sharp, it does NOT breathe well.
The OMG SHINY THINGS part of my brain wants the Pace Tights, but common sense keeps nudging me in the side reminding me that there are much better things to spend $300 on… like, heat & groceries.
Yeah, I have to wonder whether the all-reflective stuff like the pace tights would actually be decent-quality/functional fabric aside from the appearance, as you mentioned. Also, lol at your heat and groceries comment.
In general, I really like reflective gear. But NO to all of this.
The small reflective dots are a big improvement over previous year’s full panel, non breathable materials. But it’s all way too expensive. And who knows about quality. Do those dots hold up in the wash?
The price of the reflective stuff seems inconsistent to me. The $198 reflective speed tights seem to have about the same amount of “reflective stuff” as some of the tights that are $148.
The reflective What The Sport shorts are marked $98, but the all over reflective speed shorts are $64. (The speeds fit horribly by the way.) Why should there be a $34 or $50 difference?
Lulu is losing it’s appeal. I want whatever I am buying to seem worth it.
I hardly ever look at the website anymore and rarely go in a store despite having 5 near me.
Those are all really insightful points. You’re right, the reflective pricing really doesn’t really seem to make much sense.
I love reflective stuff, but like it to be considerably more subtle than all of this — for instance the reflective lace inspires from a few years back with the lace inserts being the only reflective bit, or the latest reflective pace rival crops (I actually really like those), or my reflective pin stripe speed shorts. When I bought that reflective Alberta Lake vest last year (I think it was last fall), it was heavy and didn’t feel like it would breathe well and just seemed like it was too solidly reflective for me and my early, dawn-is-happening, AM runs, so back it went. These latest Black Friday SE things are just too much IMO (price-wise too). And on top of that, it’s a reflective snake print…ugh…no thanks…
Yeah, I loved the laceoflage reflective stuff, it was really pretty and subtle.
And after all that and my dislike of snake print, what did I do? totally ordered the speed shorts lol…in person they may have way too much snake and reflectivity going on, but they seemed kinda muted when not lit up in the pictures and they are “smaller” than the tights so we shall see…
Haha well, in comparison to the rest, the speeds seem affordable. :P
I bought the lets get visible pullover on wmtm this summer for $59. It’s functional and inexpensive considering. I run in AK where it’s not only dark it’s cold. These thin reflective pieces would have to be covered up here. I’d have considered the speed tights if they were tech fleece or brushed at least.
Good point. On the other hand, for warmer climates it will be more suitable for year-round use.
I am not really interested in the collection but I will say the prices seem in the same ball park as the Nike Flash collection (includes jacket at $500 and vest at $280).
Hm you’re right! The prices certainly don’t surprise me, though as I mentioned in the post, it is pretty ironic to release them on Black Friday.
Annoying about prices, but I do have to say their photography is on point for this collection. Really shows the functionality of the collection! I agree with some others that this seems on par with other brands’ reflective price points, but I’ll still be passing!
Very true, it did turn out pretty cool. :)
Um no thanks! I will wait until those tights go to $99 LOL
who runs with the majority of cars coming at them from the side….
I don’t get why companies put reflective stuff on the sides of things. most lights will hit you from the front or back unless you’re crossing streets or going through intersections.
and $298?! who is smoking crack at lulu…
Well, I guess if you’re being skimpy with the reflectivity, there’s a chance enough of it will wrap around the front/back to be seen? You’re right though, which I imagine is why lulu emphasizes 360-degree reflectivity on some of their other pieces.
This stuff is fug.
I picked up the Speed Tights *Weave yesterday and I have to say they are now the best quality and new favorite speed tights in my collection. They are a little thicker, have higher spandex content (so they are more compressive), and very soft. The weave is a nice unique detail, with some reflective fabric in it. It’s nice to pick up a few pieces here and there that seem like they have the old Lulu quality and comfort, def worth the $128 pride tag for me. I’d recommend giving them a try on if you spot them in store, since they are sold out online.
Thanks for the tip!! I agree, it’s really nice when you do find the pieces that really are high-quality. :)