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Namaste

Bro

What happens when the

former head of Burton

Snowboards takes over a

polarizing yogawear

brand in rapid free fall?

byMICKEY RAPKIN

I

T SEEMED LIKEthe opportunity of a

lifetime — the chance to lead one of the

most revolutionary brands in sportswear

a company that had virtually redef ined its

market. But when Laurent Potdevin asked

some trusted colleagues what they thought

about the job the response was nearly unani-

mous: Don’t do it.

The warnings were understandable.

The company in question was Lululemon

and it was in free fall. Founded in 1998 the

self-described “underground yoga-clothing

movement” had been a retail phenomenon

seemingly as focused on helping its mostly

female customers harness their inner chi as

on selling them freakishly f lattering work-

out pants — which f it tidily inside those

slogan-covered shopping bags. But in 2013

complaints started rolling in: Some pants

were so sheer they may as well have been

see-through. A $17.5 million product recall

followed. Then when founder Chip Wilson

went on Bloomberg TV to quell investor

fears things only got worse.

“Frankly” Wilson said “some women’s

bodies just actually don’t work for it. It’s

really about the rubbing through the thighs.”

Stephen Colbert likened Wilson’s non-

apology to “lifting your leg to pee on custom-

ers and then blaming them for being wet.”

Lululemon’s once-fervent fan base went

into revolt the company’s stock tanked

and Wilson resigned from the board. “Time

had an article saying Lululemon would be

one of the 10 brands that doesn’t exist at the

end of 2015” says Potdevin who was being

recruited to come in and f ix the mess.

The CEO of Burton Snowboards from

2005 to 2010 Potdevin preferred sports cars

and surf ing to meditation and yoga. And he

was no stranger to controversy himself: He

had infamously caught f lak for producing a

line of snowboards decorated with vintage

images of Playboy Bunnies. (“It was executed

in a very tasteful way” he says. “Our athletes

lovedit.”)Didhereallywanttotakethereins

of a woman-focused brand considered by

many to be doomed?

But the more Potdevin studied Lulu-

lemon’s problems the more convinced he

was of the solution: men.

“When I joined Lulu” he says “the big-

gest surprise was how dry the pipeline of

innovation was. There was nothing.” So he

immediately set to work on the task of push-

ing into the men’s market. Potdevin knew

he couldn’t sell bros $150 yoga pants on the

promise that they’d make their butts look

good. He had to sell them upmarket techni-

cal apparel that was designed to keep them

at the top of their game. In doing so Lulu-

lemon would go head-to-head with brands

like Nike Under Armour GapFit and Rhone

in the so-called athleisure market — apparel

that sits at the intersection of technical ath-

letic gear and leisurewear. (Even Wilson dis-

placed from the company he founded is back

inthegamewithKitandAceanapparelline

started by his wife and son.)

Athleisure wear is now a $97 billion

industry. (See page 43 for our favorites.) But

you won’t hear the term coming from Pot-

dev in’s mout h. “I hate t hat word” he says. “It’s

Potdevin at

Lululemon’s

Vancouver HQ

MEN’S JOURNAL 40 SEPTEMBER 2016 photograph by ANDREW QUERNER