The west coast’s gold standard in activewear, lululemon, just made its foray into the surfing category with a womens surfwear launch. As the surfing industry is on track to reach US$9.5 billion by 2022, it appears to be a natural next step for a company whose positioning revolves around elevating female athletes across all sports categories and cultivating a well-rounded active lifestyle. The brand marks its entry into surf with a three piece swimwear release, in collaboration with pro surfer Malia Manuel.
Lululemon’s Elite Ambassador Malia Manuel is one of the ASP World Tour’s top ranking surfers, and was the youngest winner ever of the US Open of Surfing, which she won at the age of 14 in 2008. Part of lululemon’s DNA is sourcing product feedback from its local store ambassadors to continue to gather insights on fabric, style and overall performance of its gear. In recent years, it’s begun tapping select lululemon ambassadors and elite athletes to collaborate on new product releases within their respective realms, from volleyball to dance cardio.
The new partnership with Malia Manuel marks the first surf collection and official elite surfer collaboration for lululemon. Leading up to this launch, the brand also released new men’s swimwear product designed using direct feedback from pro surfers and elite ambassadors Evan Valiere and Mark Healey along the way. Sun Choe, SVP, lululemon Merchandising, shared that the brand, “will continue to work with our elite athletes across a number of categories for design inspiration and feedback to create functional, innovative product for athletes, by athletes.”
For the Malia Manuel collection, Lululemon invited Manuel to the Vancouver HQ for monthly design meetings, and had the pro surfer regularly try out versions of the three pieces to make up the collection: Will the Wave bikini top ($68), Will the Wave bikini bottom ($68) and a Will the Wave Long Sleeve One Piece ($128). They started production in early 2017, and after several iterations, landed on a final set of three pieces that launched May 8, 2018.
Lululemon Design Director Clare Robertson notes that, “When we first met with Malia, she had very specific needs she wanted us to help her address in her swimwear. As a professional surfer, a distraction-free suit is critical. Malia had a hard time finding silhouettes that were feminine and technical, so we worked to achieve both. We incorporated technical qualities like bonded seams that lie flat against your skin, and firmly attached cups that won’t shift or slide, so you can solely focus on the water.”
Elite Ambassador Manuel suggests that the most important factors to her were, “Creating silhouettes that offer no distractions. When I’m surfing, it’s critical to focus all of my attention and energy on the waves, so a no-distraction suit is key. I also wanted to incorporate subtle femininity into the collection as I find a lot of women sacrifice function for beauty or vice versa. You’ll see these subtleties in details, like scalloped edges, cross-back straps and bonded seams.”
The new collection is available globally at select stores and online at lululemon.com.
