Lululemon yoga brand generates cult-like following

Talk about brand loyalty: New York magazine this week featured an article on Lululemon’s (a brand of yoga apparels) massive following. The first store opened in Vancouver in 2000, and by 2008 the brand was raking in an annual profit of $350 million. The brand has inspired blogs such as “Lululemon Addict” and hundreds of Facebook groups, “many devoted to celebrating Lululemon’s ability to make butts look great,” as Bryant Urstadt writes (which he suggests is part of the pull). Still, others believe that the wildly popular brand undermines the true meaning of yoga—an exercise meant for asceticism, not lust for expensive products (the signature pants cost $98). Still, between sponsoring free yoga lessons in the park and an obsession with self-improvement, it is clear that this brand’s cult-like following is on the rise.