"This campaign for change cannot be about me. It is about recommitting Lululemon to genuine creative leadership. Wilson's recent moves have gotten a lot of attention, but it's hardly the first time he has lobbed this kind of criticism at the company he founded in 1998. A firebrand whose comments have often been seen as exclusionary and even racist, Wilson left the board after tangling with the company's C-suite over strategy and culture, but he still owns an 8.4% stake in the company."
"The narrative from Wall Street analysts and investors to customers and former executives, is that Lulu has lost the mojo that made it a pioneer in high-end yoga wear for a certain kind of aspirational customer. The innovative spirit and focus on knowing customers intimately seems to have weakened."
"Newness in stores was just not where it had been, one former senior executive speaking on condition of anonymity told Fortune. You could feel it, going into a store and it wasn't engaging in the way that it had been historically."
Lululemon founder Chip Wilson, who left the board in 2015, has intensified his campaign against the company he founded in 1998. In December, he initiated a proxy battle to force the departure of three directors up for re-election at the spring shareholder meeting, later expanding his criticism to suggest more directors should leave. Wilson has repeatedly accused Lululemon of losing its creative leadership and innovative spirit. While his past similar complaints preceded a tripling of revenue over nine years, current sentiment from Wall Street analysts, investors, customers, and former executives suggests the company has genuinely lost its competitive edge in high-end activewear and customer intimacy that once defined its market position.
#corporate-governance #activist-investor #lululemon-leadership-crisis #activewear-industry #proxy-battle
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