Waterson leaves Lululemon amid luon fabric debacle
04/04/2013
Sheree Waterson joined the Canadian company in 2008 with more than 25 years of consumer and retail experience.
"We appreciate the many contributions that Sheree made during her time with Lululemon, particularly in the area of design," said Lululemon's CEO, Christine Day.
The company insists it has the luon problem in hand, deflecting blame away from its Taiwanese supplier, which it initially insinuated was the root of the problem.
“While the fabric involved may have met testing standards, it was on the low end of Lululemon's tolerance scale and we have found that our testing protocols were incomplete for some of the variables in fabric characteristics,” said the company in a statement. “When combined with subtle style changes in pattern, the resulting end product had an unacceptable level of sheerness.”
Steps it is taking to address the problem include: assessing all luon products in production according to new testing processes; stationing Lululemon employees in factories to educate teams on new testing methodologies; and bringing in new leadership to create a “more robust organisation”.
"Our stand for differentiation is the quality of our product. We have been building capacity in the product organisation, and we recognise that continued investment in this segment of the business is required to support our future," said Ms Day. "We are committed to continually developing best-in-class fabrics, and are committed to only putting product in our stores that meet our stringent standards."
Share this story:
