Lululemon to enter new category: men’s footwear

Lululemon continues to expand its assortment as part of its five-year plan to double its revenues.

The athletic apparel retailer is growing its footwear offerings with the debut of its first casual sneaker, “cityverse,” and two new running styles, “beyondfeel” and “beyondfeel trail.”  The sneaker and new running shoes will be available in women’s as well as men’s styles marking the launch of the brand’s first-ever men’s footwear line.

Lululemon entered the footwear category in March 2022 with the debut of a women’s running shoe. In April of the same year, the company unveiled a five-year plan to double its revenue to $12.5 billion by 2026. The plan included the doubling of the brand’s men’s business.

The casual sneaker, which will be available in four colors, will launch on Feb. 13. The beyondfeel and beyondfeel trail running shoes will launch on March 19 and May 7, respectively.  The new offerings will be available online and in select stores across North America, Europe and China's mainland.

“At lululemon, every product we make is designed to embody our feel-first philosophy, which is rooted in the belief that when you feel your best, you perform your best—and our new styles and men’s footwear offerings are no exception,” said Sun Choe, chief product officer, Lululemon Chief Product Officer. “With new performance running shoes and our first-ever casual sneaker added to our lineup, we can now outfit both men and women in versatile gear from head to toe. Extensive research, wear-testing and ambassador feedback went into each of these designs to ensure a perfect fit, no matter the activity.”

To create the new styles, Lululemon said it studied the differences in foot shape between men and women, taking into consideration how each body moves, before fine-tuning for the intended activity. For example, the beyondfeel running shoe contains seven different combinations of upper materials, foam compounds and construction methods between the men’s and women’s designs to achieve optimal comfort, fit and performance.

Lululemon plans to launch additional footwear innovations throughout the year, including new material iteration across the product line.