A few more pics have surfaced of the new noir capsule…
The noir dress, bra, and pants. The bra is definitely getting the most enthusiasm so far, and I have to agree that it’s the winning piece of the collection. It’s nice that the straps are adjustable! [Lululemon Union Square]
Noir jacket, pants, and bra. The pants remind me of the tranquility pants and that is not a good thing. How many super-baggy, high-waisted pants is lulu gonna make this summer?? [Lululemon Robertson]
Noir jacket, pants, and bra. I don’t think the pants look particularly good on her, and if they don’t look good on her body type (thin and on the tall side) I’m not quite sure who they would look good on. Sometimes wide-legged pants can be worn well and look reasonably fashionable, but I just don’t see it with these, the shape seems a bit lacking. Only a matter of time before these hit MD. [Lululemon Knox Street]
Agreed… I actually think wide-legged pants can look very chic, but not here. I’m not feeling the front of that bra either. I’m always disappointed with/befuddled by the two-and-from “fashion” capsule collections. I don’t understand what they think they’re doing…
Yeah, I would be less befuddled if they executed it well. I feel like they need something between their activewear lines and these types of lines, because these lines seem to be trying too hard to be “fashion forward” so they end up being essentially unwearable by all but a brave few. The here to there dress was a good example of a crossover product that is decidedly not activewear but also extremely wearable for the average lulu patron. I might add that that was a VERY successful product!
More to the point of your comment, luluaddict pointed out that they really should be focusing more on their core competency, which is awesome activewear products, because those have been, on average, pretty subpar the past few months. They seem to be getting distracted by projects like this (which aren’t even doing that well!) and letting their core focus fall by the wayside…
Exactly! With the capsules the execution has seemed poor and “inauthentic” when they are capable of better… and they’re simultaneously diverging from the brand’s identity. So I guess that is the summary of my befuddlement. I think the future varsity collection is an exception, though. I thought that was executed well, just a style I personally am not going for at this time. But it sounds like others welcome the stylistic departures.
Incidentally, I dunno if this has been discussed elsewhere, but the capsules always give me the impression that they are going for a feel along the lines of T by Alexander Wang (I realize the price point is higher there). I always thought that, but the Here to There dress actually looks exactly like T by AW’s “Neoprene Inverted Pleat Dress” from a couple years ago:
http://tinyurl.com/o5mau2d
http://tinyurl.com/psdmv6d
I don’t think the fashion collections are too off base. My first Lulu purchase was yoga pants because I can wear them for working out but also because they are superflattering and I can wear them outside the gym as well. Otherwise I wouldn’t have spent $100 for a pair of yoga pants. I think their high quality knit fabrics are very fashion forward and really unique and somewhat ahead of their time. I missed out on the herringbone, but I hope that may come back this fall/winter. So I’m not surprised that they are trying to find other edgier directions with their fabrics, and you can’t win ’em all. However, to echo someone else’s comment, they don’t seem to have a lot of new ideas in the athletic clothes right now. So people are probably only going to stick around to buy the apres workout gear if you get them in the door to look at the workout gear.