“Elevating [your ass] From Mediocrity To A Place of Greatness”
The Lululemon Groove Pant, a Case Study in Design
Sweat pants are an unfortunately common article of clothing. They’re unflattering on everyone and aren’t well designed for the athletic activity to which they’re marketed. So what if someone decided to design a modern version of the sweat pant, designed to not only move with you and perform in ways a typical sweat pant never could, but also enhance one of your “best assets”?
You’d have a Lululemon Groove pant.
The Lululemon Groove pant is the original pant that started it all for Vancouver-based Lululemon Athletica, a company specializing in high end casual athletic wear with a yoga influence. The pant in question, despite its humble beginnings as a “yoga-specific” pant, has an audience ranging from teenage girls who like to be comfortable while hanging out at the mall, through the mid 20s girl experimenting with yoga at university, all the way to active senior citizens who still participate in activities and cherish their comfort. Furthermore, mainstream success has brought a different audience, one that appreciates the flattering design (Lululemon pants are renowned for their ability to make any rear end look fantastic), sensuous fabrics, and comfort above the athletically appropriate design. On a greater scale, the Lululemon Groove pant appeals to any woman who is athletically minded or fashionable, yet appreciates her comfort and wants a pant that minimizes “problem areas” and maximizes bodily highlights for athletic activity, coffee meetings, to wear at school, as lounge wear, or anywhere else that the Groove pant may be seen as appropriate. Certain areas are inappropriate for the pant, including offices, more formal meals, or any situation where professionalism is required, as the Groove pant is a casual piece of clothing.
The concept of Logos involves the exponent’s physical properties and whether or not it accomplishes what it sets out to do. The Lululemon Groove pant does well in this regard. It is comfortable thanks to its stretch fabric, low rise, gusseted crotch, flared lower leg, and tight bum area, and fits well without the need for a belt.
Next in line is Ethos, which involves trustworthiness and character. As far as its initially intended audience (yoga practitioners), the Groove pant is still the standard to which all others are judged. It is an appropriate item for before, during, and after yoga, and won’t look out of place at Starbucks or at the library, and functions well wherever casual comfort are acceptable. The Groove pant wouldn’t be appropriate at such events as black tie dinners, or in the office where professionalism comes before comfort. In addition, Lululemon, as a brand name, is known and respected as a quality manufacturer of yoga/casual athletic wear that supports the sports that keep it alive via sponsorships, event management, as well as a chain of specialty retail stores which promote yoga and related practices of health and fitness.
On the issue of Pathos, personal feelings associated to the product, the Groove pant once again scores high. Pride, sexiness, a feeling of acceptance within a community of healthy, active, attractive individuals, and even a feeling of trust for Lululemon, are all present thanks to not only the design of the pant, but also thanks to the company’s charitable actions as well as their community and athlete support programs. Lululemon has designed a “grassroots” research and development team that solicits feedback from all users, supports different yogis around the world, and offers free yoga classes through its retail stores. As such, Groove pant owners tend to feel a particular attachment to their pants and the company, going so far as to believe it to be responsible, environmentally friendly (thanks to Lululemon’s numerous environmental programs), in touch, and even friendly.
With its Groove pant, Lululemon not only had a commercial success that would spawn innumerable other items for both women and men, but also laid the groundwork for a respected brand and pant model that not only helps one feel like a part of a non-mainstream yoga and health culture while fitting in with everyone else who owns a pair, but has a very well known reputation of making any ass look better than it otherwise could have, or, as Lululemon’s mission statement so eloquently puts it, “Elevating the world from mediocrity to a place of greatness”.
Yes, that's right, 727 words on what makes the Lululemon Groove Pant the shit when it comes to Elevating [your ass] from Mediocrity to a Place of Greatness.
And yes, I did hand it in with that title, in case you were wondering.
A+ bitches!
