Lululemon, Supplier War Over See-Through Pants

Manufacturer hits back after company blames it for issue
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 20, 2013 8:39 AM CDT
Lululemon, Supplier War Over See-Through Pants
Shoppers enter the Lululemon Athletica store Tuesday, March 19, 2013 at Union Square in New York.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Lululemon's see-through yoga pants sound scandalous, and a scandal is what the company appears to have on its hands. The Taiwanese supplier of the pants is hitting back after the yogawear chain blamed its massive pants recall on the manufacturer. "All shipments to Lululemon went through a certification process which Lululemon had approved," Eclat's CFO tells the Wall Street Journal. "All the pants were manufactured according to the requirements set out in the contract with Lululemon."

Writing for the Atlantic Wire, Adam Clark Estes sums up the drama thusly: "So which one is it? Did Eclat make a bad batch of $100 yoga pants, or did Lululemon just design transparent $100 yoga [pants] and milk the market for as long as it could?" For now, it remains unclear, and Lululemon may have larger problems on its hands than some potentially see-through pants: This is the fourth quality control issue the chain has experienced in the past year, and some analysts are expressing concern that the company "does not have the appropriate presence in and around its factories. It appears that there is not appropriate oversight in place." (More Lululemon Athletica stories.)

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