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Comment by fortran77 | Hacker News Reader

The modern examples cited weren't nearly as bad:

- Lulumon didn't seem to be hurt by Chip Wilson. In fact, the "notoriety" made me aware they they sold men's clothes, too, and I went there and bought some great athletic wear.

- Many customers appreciated Barclays' warning not to "pile up debts." That would give me a favorable opinion of a company that offers lines of credit, not a bad one.

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Lululemon is genius, their quality is great, but the branding is even better! They revolutionized the exercise wear industry, were single-handedly responsible for "athleisure" and killing denim sales!

and maybe it's true that some styles of clothing are "not for everyone"

Not maybe, definitely. Just one of those things that for some reason isn't acceptable to say despite being obviously accurate.

His comments weren't even controversial, as they echoed beliefs that are held by those in the fashion industry. Lots of clothing companies make it plainly obvious not everyone is supposed to buy their products.

He went into it in detail when he was interviewed by Guy Raz. Wilson defended himself by saying his comments had nothing to do with obesity, but rather material. He is a fabrics guy, and his clothes were being used to shape, a la Spanx, when they weren’t built to shape at all.

It’s a fascinating interview and one of the best in the “How I Built This” series.

I second this, it was a fantastic interview. One of the things that stood out was how eloquent of a speaker that Chip Wilson is.

I heard a tape of the original interview, too, and I was shocked that certain people with an agenda used it to ruin him. He very gently suggested that wearing them very tight and using the garments as a "spanx"-type girdle to shape wasn't how they're supposed to be worn. Plus-size activists hit the roof, for unknown reasons.

I mean when I read the comments I rolled my eyes because clearly not all clothes are made and designed for every single human configuration out there.

> Human configuration

Your engineer is showing

Yes, especially for those who can't spend $100+ on yoga pants.

The human mind is easily persuaded

>were single-handedly responsible for "athleisure"

Pretty sure that was Nike, Adidas, and Puma.

For men perhaps, not for women.

Am a guy and buy mostly UA ( their quality is kickass and they fit well). But people swear by Lululemon's quality and its ability to hold up well. IMO they've managed to become Patagonia-like, in gaining a cult-like following.

Nope, it was Lululemon, they were all making sporting apparel which you could wear while working out, but were nowhere close to the fabric, design, and style that Lululemon had, and they were completely clueless and neglecting the women's market. They eventually realized and have IMO caught on ( UA and Nike have great lines which have great fabrics, but am a guy, if you ask my wife she will go with Athleta, which is lower priced than Lululemon, but is comparable in a lot of aspects).

Lululemon has a weak presence in many parts of the EU and we still have people wear gym clothes in their normal lives...

People wearing gym clothes in their normal lives in Europe? Really not as much as in the US.

And what exactly “gym clothes” is? Shorts and a sleeveles shirt? People wear that 50 years ago outside gym. Or someone branded their particular contemporary design as “gym clothes” and pushes that? In my gym, people wear different kinds of shorts and t-shirts, mostly by nike, adidas etc, and they wear similar stuff outside. I wasn’t even aware that there is such fashion movement as “gym casual” that is distinct from “sport casual”, and I thought I was fairly fashion aware (for a guy). But i guess that Europe is now behind the trend in this matter...

I think you're wrong. Walk through working class neighbourhoods in Europe; Adidas track suits are the uniform for the un/under-employed.

Seen hundreds of girls wearing the style in the streets of Madrid and London. Granted London has ONE Lululemon store AFAIK, but it has hundreds of other brands doing the same thing too, so I doubt they set the trend.

Athleisure was born in Europe in the 80s (shell suits). But lululemon has like 5 shops in total in the continent (Amsterdam, Paris, Zurich, Frankfurt, Berlin).

It has one in Manchester so I imagine it has many more cities than that.

Denim killed denim.

For a time, I could buy jeans that fit. That's now all but impossible. Skinny jeans doing much of that.

Prices and fabric quality have gone, respectively, through the ceiling and floor.

I'm approaching a decade denim-free, having broken in my first pair sometime in the 1970s.

I think the sizing issue is due to vanity sizing, a lot of brands label their denim jeans the wrong size. The so called size 36 or 38 are probably actually 38 and 40 respectively. A few international brands like Levi's don't seem to do vanity sizing.

Not just that. Leg diameters are far smaller.

Baggy in the waist, cannot get my thighs in.

Same with John Pluthero at C&W. I was working there at the time and John was well-known for being brutally honest (his management style was one of the reasons he took over when C&W bought Energis, despite him running the much smaller Energis). It's a while ago now, but he was right at the time and I don't remember anyone disagreeing.

I prefer straight honesty in social dealings, but it is vital in business, even when that is my bossing telling me I did crap, or me telling the boss I think he's wrong. Arsing around gently in business contexts, not giving info that would help even if unwelcome, is plain damaging.

> The modern examples cited weren't nearly as bad

True.

Nowadays, it only takes one tweet to absolutely tank someone's reputation, let alone lose his or her job.

Eh, a few notable counterexamples have popped up since 2016....

Such as?

Try searching twitter for any combination of "Greenland", "King of the Jews", "covfefe" or "Hillary"

When David Shepherd (brand director for Topman) said Topman customers only wore a suit for their first interview or their first court appearance in 2001, I was sure it would be the end of them.

Didn't seem to bother people though. Maybe the "hooligans or whatever" who shop there don't pay any attention to the news?

Turns out that people who don't have a choice don't have a choice.

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