Lululemon just announced the recall of millions (billions?) of yoga pants because they are too sheer. The media had a field day with the story, because, why, how silly is this! The great yoga pants recall. Ha ha, what a silly Woman Problem, see-through yoga pants. Jimmy Kimmel even made a long skit about how ridiculous women who do yoga and want a pair of opaque tight pants are:
But while he and morning show anchors are giggling, Wall Street analysts are not. One from Credit Suisse told the Wall Street Journal that the recall of the Luon pants was Lululemon's "fourth quality-control issue in the past year." The company — whose shares are down almost 13% so far this year — previously experienced "transparency problems" with bathing suits last spring, along with "a subset of light colored pants." The Journal continues:
Some analysts expressed concern about the company's quality control.
Analysts at Sterne Agee said the company doesn't appear to be exercising enough supervision of its supply chain.
"We are concerned that LULU does not have the appropriate presence in and around its factories," the analysts said. "It appears that there is not appropriate oversight in place."
Sure, maybe they could work more closely with their factories so that they're not wasting money and resources on pants that are only as good as a pair of cheap tights. But by recalling the pants and refunding people who purchased them, Lululemon is making its customers an important promise, the promise that it will do whatever it takes — including a nosedive in the stock market — to keep its customers from embarrassing themselves in exercise class. Because as women who work out in leggings know, the most dangerous thing about the practice is unknowingly wearing a pair that fails to deliver full opacity. People go to the same gyms and yoga studios every day, they want to be able to go back without being known as "see-through leggings lady."
So the media can sneer all it wants, but Lululemon is really only proving it is dedicated to making the best, most flattering overpriced athletic wear on the market. Would American Apparel have your back like that if they unwittingly sold you see-through yoga bottoms? I think not.
Related: 23 Reasons Leggings Are The Worst
