Worked for a heat press company for a couple months and the amount of product we had to make for Lululemon was insane. Most of it is outsourced of course, and I can confirm that Lululemon often lie in their branding. Also, the boxes that the product came in smelled like the zoo 🤢🤢
Idea for testing To test the resilience of the knits, maybe a Dremel with a sanding tip instead of a cut or in addition to cutting out a square Might be more akin to wearing it out
I feel so validated, I was one of the few who hated these shoes and said they were trash when they came out and got chased off the lululemon subreddit for trying to warn people not to buy them 😂 felt like everyone was gaslighting themselves to like it. finally video proof that they suck
For the eyelet test, the reason why the metal one pulled through easier is because of the dissimilar materials. A metal that hasnt been designed to interface with plastic will usually end up acting as a destructive element when under stress whereas similar materials can more easily work with each other to spread the load. A prime example is a metal eyelet tearing through one leather of a specific quality vs another design of metal eyelet not tearing through that same leather.
Good point. A big challenge in design and engineering is equalizing attributes and quality levels across all of a products components so that there isn’t a single obvious point of failure. A product with similar (often lesser) quality materials can be superior to one where some (but not all) components have “superior” attributes.
Nah I have a $16 pair of Walmart shoes that are this exact quality minus the weird thing around your ankle. Big ol foam sole, shit thin mesh upper, that's about all this is.
It’s hard to find people who really call out big brands! I wonder if these big brands see your videos about them? Because by far you do the best review of sneakers and foot wear.
@@allans1262 unfortunately the Gel lyte 3 doesn’t have a tri density foam anymore it used to back in the day but now it’s all a one piece foam unit with a small orange gel unit in the heel to cut cost since it’s mainly a sportstyle shoe now
As someone with wide feet. I use Asics or New balance because they have wide shoes and often are easy to replace the soles with Dr Scholl's gel shoes. I've gotten $20 shoes with similar quality
I'm from Vancouver, Lulu used to actually make a small part of it's clothing locally, I used to walk by the store and see a bunch of ladies sewing shirts or whatever maybe 8 years ago? then they moved all of the productions overseas. I heard that their hoodies are quite good but given their issues I just avoid them overall
Never buy a outsourced brand, gave gave working women jobs and shut it down and stopped caring Thanks reagen for the outsourcing crisis🤡 It's like bundstones too, used to me aussie made, now just chinese cut corners WHY ARE YOU STILL BUYING THEIR JUNK They chose to kill aussie jobs, stop supporting them for that
@@CocoKoi321 I work in IT, outsourcing is shite, a 15 days training to a yes-man CANNOT make up for 30 years industry experience, turn it any which way you want.
I think you mean that little sewing-lab thing on Broadway and Cambie. It sure fit the vibe of the neighbourhood lol, with a Starbucks and Wholefoods nearby.
there mens jumpers are honestly amazing, I got one half price at an outlet store, and its the comfiest jumper Ive ever worn my girlfriend hates it, because I wear that thing every single day
I've heard that Hoka is one of the BEST functional sneakers on the market from a gate improvement and load bearing perspective when walking. Would be great to see a video of a pair being dissected
We need more people like you! Millions of women should watch this!!! I hope this video pops up when women search for when they are thinking of buying it. This should let them know not to buy a fraud of a shoe!
thank you for this video. in my hometown in my country we've had a lululemon store for quite some time, but I always found the look of the stuff a bit too basic for my taste (i like patterns and bright colors for my workout), so I ignored it for years. Then someone told me their stuff was supposedly high quality, and I went to check it out and found it way overprized for what it was. At that price, I might as well shop something high-end performance engineered by Nike or Underarmour and get more fun colors on top of it. hearing the founder's story, the reasons he named it the way he did and his public statement about women's bodies - am I getting Abercrombie & Fitch flashbacks? - the brand is even more unsexy to me, regardless of him being involved anymore or not. When someone took a big fat dump in a room it doesn't help if the person then leaves, I'll still also get the heck out of there. not saying that mammoth brands like Nike don't have anything to criticise, but there's also no need to exchange one thing for something just as bad or worse. Also, the concept of shoes tailored to the 'women's' or 'men's' foot is always weird to me. My husband and me are almost the same height and he being Asian and having an athletic body type, we almost have the same shoe size. We are literally just one size apart and I can easily wear his shoes if need be. Counterintuitively though his feet look more delicate than mine. Mine are wide and on the flat side, his are delicate and nicely arched. He sometimes buys so called 'women's' sport shoe models because they fit better to his foot, while I sometimes pick a 'men's' model for comfort.
I'm a woman and I buy men sneakers, my feet are wide. I can't wear north face, too narrow, and always look for brands that offers options. Like Timberland or Asics.
Thank you for what you do! I learned a lot from your channel and it made me more conscious and discerning about choosing my footwear and it's lead me to analyzing all the shoes in the house to see if they've got a goodyear welt, cemented, stitchdown construction, etc lol. Would you consider cutting open the Urban Shepherd service shoes? They're from Portugal and it seems they're really good quality but a bit cheaper than Red Wings. Cheers!
@@cincydooley totally agree. Their clothes are actually pretty cheap consedering the quality. I wear a lot of it and it’s very long lasting. Never thrown a piece out
@@ev1627 You’re welcome to your opinion, but the quality and CS is absolutely there. To dismiss them as a “trendy status symbol” is, frankly, incorrect. They are certainly more expensive, but they’re in line with their market competitors (Ten Thousand, NoBull, Rhone).
I have a couple of their hoodies and also some shorts and sweatpants. While they are pricy, I’d gladly buy it all over again. I wear the shorts or pants pretty much everyday, and it’s the most comfortable clothing I’ve ever tried. Very durable as well. I buy my girl a lot of their products and she loves them. The Align yoga pant makes her ass look so damn good too, and the material is so soft I can’t keep my hands off of her 😅
Thanks for this review! I complained to the competition bureau of Canada for misleading advertising. Tired of companies lying about garbage being better than it is and wasting people's hard earned money.
As a Toaster fan, I must say, "Thank you for the extreme Toaster close-up!" It was super cute and impressive! I'd love it if Weston Kay would make Toaster close-ups a permanent feature on his YT channel. 😻👍 As for lululemon being a really overpriced lemon, somehow, I was not surprised.
I normally live in boots after years of orthotics. When Altra first came out with their revolutionary Trail Runners (zero drop and wide toe box) I said WTF and tried a pair. My feet loved them! But they seem to have been cutting small corners as competition came up. I'd love to see some Altra Trail Runners and competitors cut up, because "sneakers" aren't all cheap and easy either. Except on your bandsaw.(g)
I live close to where altra started (probably lol), they donated spikes to my high school and i probably have the same trail runners you have. I think for a small business they were getting somewhere with their unique shoes. I would also like to see altras making shoes that could undercut some other brands.
I have had a couple pairs of Altras and they are great for about a month and seem to wear out quickly. Agreed. Would love to see that shoe dissected. The wide toe box is excellent, but so many other minimalist shoes also have this.
And now we wait for someone to take these guys to court to sue them for all the money they earned from ripping off customers.. Really love all the work you guys put in to your videos. I literally won't buy shoes from a company unless I get the Rose Anvil tick of approval. 😂
They aren’t ripping people off unfortunately. It feels like they are but you couldn’t have a valid argument against them in court as you wish. The margins are at least not as ridiculous as ones some of the bigger companies stamp on bad products, and they never *actually* lied. If you took them to court they could call the insole one of the densities in their dual density claim. That’s just one example, they’d be able to dodge any false advertising claims. -coming from an advertising copywriter. It is unfortunate though and I agree that it is a cheap blow at people who trust what they’re buying.
@@colesisler582 I agree with most of your comment except the part about the price. You can buy unbranded basic running shoes for $20, that includes a margin for the manufacturer's and the store, so the true basic cost is probably about $5. So to sell something this basic for $150, with smoke and mirrors and misinformation, seems pretty outrageous to me. We've got too used to spending over $100 for some generic foam and plastic.
@@colesisler582 I used to work in advertising and I literally came here to comment this exact same thing. People tend to misunderstand what counts as false advertising.
@@CaseyWatchin It would be false advertising as they said it was dual and it is not. Then again you will have to contend with their high paid lawyers so a class action suit would be best
I was shocked when you said Lululemon is known for high quality, top tier clothing. I had to Google it and then I learned that Lululemon and LulaRoe are not the same thing...... That explains a lot.
I appreciate you doing shoes marketed to women! Yes, they almost always turn out to be garbage, but at least we know. I tend to just search for wool or leather sneakers because non-synthetic feels like it should be a bit more durable. I did see some Kevlar hiking boots and I was curious to hear your thoughts. Is that just a gimmick? Or is there a real benefit? (They were the naglevs)
I have worked with Kevlar, in a non-shoe oriented area, and there is a reason it is used in bullet proof vests. The main issue I can think of, having Kevlar boots, would be the Kevlar material lasting longer than the connection (whatever glue or stitching method they might use) to the sole(s).
Roseanvil did a video on a pair of naglevs not long ago. It was informative enough for me to decide to try them when I get my next pair of hikers this year
Great video and channel - very informative and enlightening. However, the terms "weave/woven" and "knit" should not be used interchangeably, as they are different categories of textiles with very different properties and functions. 1) Structure: woven textiles have a perpendicular yarn (thread) structure, while a knit's is chain-like. 2) Stretch: a woven textile will only stretch if some type of elastic is incorporated (or a very minimal amount along the diagonal of the grain line, known as the "bias"), often making them the more durable of the two categories. Knits are inherently stretchy and therefore frequently used in athletic wear and form-fitting apparel. Elastic is often added to knits to increase "recovery" (how quickly the textile bounces back to its original state) and help maintain its shape over time. 3) Fraying: if a weave is tight enough, the fabric will only fray slightly or very slowly over time (except with frequent friction, such as laundering or at toe pressure points). With knits, well... one snipped thread means an ever-growing hole and should be repaired asap. There are, of course, many other differences, but these are probably the most important and helpful in understanding and choosing textiles. Love, a fabric nerd
Sadly I'm not surprised. I used to be a Lululemon customer because their leggings were way better than the big brands (Nike, adidas etc), and their sports bras are cute. But activewear is so popular now, many other brands have matched the quality while LLL is dropping quality in their new styles. Shame about the shoes, but it solidly puts the brand in the fast fashion category in my view.
The thing about the charge feel specifically, is they are more similar to a Nike metcon free. Technically the one with the upper sock is designed specifically for the elliptical. Strong feel are basically the Nike metcon and the blissfeel is more of the running shoe. I do like them, they have features my other shoes from Nike don’t have. It locks in my heel great, love the arch support and they are comfortable. But after working for the company, not many people come in asking for them, they take up so much space in the store, and not that many of my coworkers wear them everyday. If I’m paying full price for a running shoe, I’m still going to my local running store first.
I’d love to see you break down a few pairs of Altra shoes. They have the foot shaped toe box like Lems, and their Lone Peak trail shoes have a big following from hikers and runners, but I’ve had a lot of concerns with their quality control. The latest Timp release has a mesh that completely falls apart with a single snag, and I don’t know what they’re doing wrong with adhesives, but I’ve had outsole rubber detach from the midsole on several models, including the Rivera and Olympus. Not what you expect for $140+ prices across their entire line.
Dual density mid soles mostly have a harder layer on the inside, rear (heel) area. That is, the whole of the inside, rear of the mid sole (from shoe upper to outsole) is made of a harder foam to prevent overpronation. Sometimes there is a gradual change in density rather than a separate layer nowadays. You seem to be under the impression that it is a different horizontal layer whereas it is frequently a harder vertical orientated layer which might be why you are not seeing the difference. Especially where they gradually increase the density across the foot.
@@AstrumG2V Not in the numerous running shoes I've owned over the years. I'm wearing an old pair of Asics kayanos at the moment and the dual density mid sole is shown as a different coloured layer that goes vertically down the full height of the midsole from the inside edge of the heel to just before the ball of the foot. This is to stop the foot rolling inward too much.
@@AstrumG2V Yes, I am. That has been the main use of dual density mid soles from my experience. There have been a few different developments like New Balance Encap which had an EVA core surrounded by a PU harder layer that was circular but in the horizontal plane. Mostly though the dual density mid sole has been used as a stability feature to prevent over-pronation. My experience is mostly with running shoes so perhaps I am missing some different applications of the technology.
These kind of remind me of when I was in school when there was a sneaker that was over 100.00 for fashion more than usability. The Vision Street wear sneaker if you could call it that had no support, was built like a Ked sneaker the only difference is that the soul separated from the rest of the sneaker at any time. So many of those who purchased them could be walking down the hall and all of a sudden the soul would fall off and would be walking with a sock to the ground. Mostly it happened with one shoe at a time, but imagine spending all that money for the time and not even a month into wearing them this happened.
This is why I have never been a sneaker head. Too many companies, creating fake products based off of false advertising. In my opinion, vans and converse are the most authentic and real shoe/sneaker brand when it comes to what they place in their shoe and how they advertise it
A brand of shoes that really accomodates the shape of and support for womens feet is Ryka. I discovered them during my first pregnancy with the most comfortable sandals and have owned several different styles since then (over 15 years ago) and every pair has been well made and super comfy. Would love to see a video on them.
Wow. I have challenging feet that are prone to fasciitis if I wear shoes that are uncomfortable. Sadly I wore them for a week and had to toss them in the thrift store bag…. I walk a lot and go through my walking shoes pretty fast. My top 2 fav shoes are brooks and hoka. They both last a couple of months longer than my ASICS and adidas. My adidas also stop being comfortable after about 3 months and I move them to my running errands shoes. I am surprised at how quickly the adidas soles wear down. I cycle my shoes so I actively wear 3-4 shoes in a week. One for my shorter am walk (about 1 hr/7k steps) and my longer afternoon walk (1.5-2.5 hours, averaging about 9.5 miles/day but then school brought it down to 6.5. ) and 2 pairs for my afternoon walks……
Love that they worked for you, but as far as I can tell from the website they still don't have the wide toe box or anything he mentioned. Do you feel like they're wider than others? Or is it more the type of cushion that makes them more comfortable?
I just bought a pair of solovairs, with heavy advice from this channel. I loved the old (pre 2000's) DrMartens and these ones give my feet the same feeling as my old, since long gone, pair of Drs. I really hope they will last as long - 6 years of daily use in my early 20's - and be as good looking all the way through. I guess I'll be back in 6yrs to give my final opinion! :D
Lululemon tend to be insanely overpriced for what they are, but I've had two pairs of their men's trousers now that are the first pants in over a decade that I haven't managed to wear the inner thigh out of or split the ass (curse my thick thighs and shapely posterior!) They're now a year old and still in perfect condition apart from a tiny bit of fading on some of the raised seams. They're really, really good. Cost €128 a pair here in Europe, but I've probably saved money by not going through 3 or 4 pairs of pants in the last year, I was spending up to €80 on other pants and they'd fail within months 🤷🏻♂️
Really interesting video!!!! I would definitely be interested in more coverage of women's shoes, esp if it was a men's, women's, kid's model comparison. I have small feet so often if I want to shop in-store I have to shop kids and those shoes suck ass like 90% of the time. I'd be curious to see what the actual differences are in construction!
Hey Weston! My GF is in healthcare and has recently taken an attraction to the "clove" shoes. I dont know much about what makes a good sneaker, but id love to see a video and your opinion on them.
Planning my first trip to Nicks in the spring, thanks to this channel. And thanks for helping me navigate these various brands ideas of quality. Learned a ton from your videos.
Howdy -- I'm just commenting to say I'd like to see you do more women's boots as well. I've long known that men's footwear is generally much better made, usually for less money, and it would be great to see comparisons between women's and men's boots in the same brand.
One thing to consider regarding their pricing is that LuLu is a vertical retailer, meaning it’s a retail business that designs, produces, and sells its own products, without using middlemen or wholesalers, so they’re margins and profit are going to be a lot higher than traditional athletic like Nike or adidas. For example; A target of 50% margin for a retail $200 Nike shoe would mean wholesaler buys it from Nike at $100 sells for $200, and Nike produces it and lands it at a port for $50 and sells it to wholesaler for $100. Everyone gets 50% margin. A target of 50% margin on a retail $200 lulu shoe would mean built and landed at a port for $100, meaning that shoe could incorporate a lot more special fabrics, features, etc. They have no excuse for not introducing some features or technology to make up for the high margin they’re making selling to themselves and avoiding wholesalers. Comparing prices to Nike, adidas, or other horizontal brands isn’t an apples to apples comparison.
I would love to see you cover APL, as they are some of the priciest athletic shoes I have seen (and owned) and while I enjoy them, I am curious about their output and quality
Would love to see the Momenta Ripstop from Puma! I have a pair and after a while you feel EVERY SINGLE ROCK under your feet if you’re not on a flat surface.
Speaking of Nike, I'm really curious why you haven't cut their Manoa Leather shoe, yet. It's "leather", it's boot like sneaker, it toe box look mocktoeish and they can be cheap on sale.
Weston, not sure you read all the comments but one brand that also claims utilizing feet scans is Karhu. In the US they’re all sold at Fleet Feet and they work hand in hand with them to develop their running shoes. I have a pair and do like them. Would be interesting to see if what they claim holds up.
It's not just athletic shoes. I wonder if there's anybody who does this with bicycles? They make claims about the tubing that frames are constructed from, what alloys, "butted", "double butted" (this refers to a variable thickness tube, thicker where the joints come together, supposedly creating a stronger, lighter frame). When I Sawzalled my old, worn out bike apart for more convenient dumping in a recycle bin, I discovered no evidence of the claimed butted construction at all. People think the government should be run like a business. I suspect that it already is. Businesses are usually crooked.
About ten years ago customers began complaining that the seats in some Lululemon yoga pants would become nearly transparent when they bend over. In response, the company said it would offer refunds ... except to get one a customer would have to wear the pants in a company store and bend over in front of an employee, who would decide whether the pants really were see-thru. There was a major outcry, both from customers and employees, and the company quickly changed its policy and offered no questions asked refunds.
The "millions of scans" thing really struck me as more of a marketing gimmick than a genuine attempt to provide value to customers. A million is a gigantic sample size for a "scientific" study, they'd almost certainly have more useful data if scanned say 10,000 but went more in depth. From a brief Google it seems like they probably just got a sole silhouette and drew conclusions about things like simple ratios like heel to mid-foot width. With a smaller sample size they could have done 3d scans, measured pressure distribution etc and that might have been genuinely useful for determining where to add extra support, durability etc.
Awesome video!! Just found this channel & I’m hooked. Would love to see more women’s sneakers in 2023. I love that you have all these objective ways to measure the foam to compare shoes. As someone who has done several half marathons and marathons and went through a pair of running shoes every 8 weeks and basically just going through shoes based on how they felt on & marketing claims, it’s very cool to see these objective ways to compare them.
Lying about the dual-density foam (actually lack thereof): "Ya busted!" Accurate, concise and professional. Because YT and possibly lalalameon wouldn't approve if you stated "Ya bunch of fuckin' liars!" Accurate, concise and adversarial.
I'd like to see a video focusing on rebound shoes and boots I deliver mail for a living and something with great rebound would probably be a godsend to the workday. I'd also love to see nicks do some 600 shoes I'd love a resoleable shoe
I was really shocked when you went over the company history. I thought they were just an MLM selling crap leggings for 3x cost of what you can get on Amazon from China
Nike seems to be 2 brands: One focused on fast fashion that talks a lot of marketing, and a performance shoe oriented brand ....that does a lot of marketing, but at least the performance shoe side does seem to have some actual tech to it. Most people who wear the invicible2s with their cushy zoomx foam are really happy with them. I bought my wife who's struggled with her knees for a while now and she found those incredibly comfortable and the impact absorption they bring actually helps her, to the point I bought another pair for her...because marketing company likes to fiddle too much with a good product sometimes. Wife bought some Lululemon yoga pants at least some 11 years ago and they have been at least very durable and she can still use them and they seem to look as good as new and still fit her pretty well, having said that she hasn't bought another piece from them because of them being very expensive and being able to find better valued alternatives. It was a shock to me that they now where doing men's fashion, until I recently saw an American tennis player they where sponsoring donning their clothes (but not their shoes) and it was even more of a shock to me that they "made shoes" now. I'm disappointed, but not surprised, that the durability that we have gotten out of the one piece of clothing we do own from them is not something found in these shoes. I would absolutely not buy these over the Nike Invincible 2, and again I hope they don't mess up a good shoe.
Yes, please do more shoes for womans! And also, I would love(!) if you looked closer to some hiking boots, especially from Merrell and similar brands since that's the only thing I wear.
I have noticed with the lululemon blissfeels that in general they fit my heel cup better than other sneakers I have tried which has been nice! Are they a revolutionary shoe, no, but I ran for many years and have yet to really find a sneaker that fits my heel cup better than these. I am wondering if more of the changes they made were to the overall shape of the upper, when I wear these shoes they feel more proportional to my foot shape as a women than other shoes, there really isn't any pain points for me as there are in other running shoe brands. But again, everyone's foot is different and I am not entirely convinced that you can generalize foot shape and make a universal shoe for all women. These fit me better than other shoe brands like Nike and that is what matters!
I would be interested to see if more women find differences in the same places like the heel cup rather than the insole? Or if there is a difference between the strongfeel and blissfeel?
That higher rebound number on the foam response test is not a good thing. Typically you want less foam and cushion on your shoe which is contrary to advertising. With an increase of cushioning the wearer will tend to run or walk with more force which directly contributes to running injuries. It's been shown that we apply 8x more force when running with an expensive runner vs barefoot. Ideally you want a runner that's going to; protect your foot from sharp objects; protect your ankle from rolling; and is breathable and comfortable.
You need to do Adidas Adios Pro/Prime shoes, the former is a marathon grade shoe which is at the forefront of super foam runners at the moment. The latter is just a monstrosity with unbelievable stake height which has broken world records
Do a pair/few pairs of muck boots. I exclusively where muck boots in the winter and for wet conditions doing forestry in the upper Midwest. I’d love a video on boots designated for standing in water/snow. Pair I did have from one of the more reputable companies failed after 4 months.
Would you consider cutting some special shoes such as shoes for health care workers and teachers (Dansko), or for diabetics people (SAS)? I am always curious if there are any real differences between them and common comfortable shoes like ECCO or Clarks. Another interesting thing is lightweight shoes for travel, like shoes recommended by travelers such as Sarah in ‘Adventure with Sarah’.
Always grateful for your "60 Minutes" treatment of your reviews. At $150, LuLu is really ripping the consumer off on these. I just hope any potential buyer of this brand will see this video.
I really like a cheap pair of canvas sneakers I've found on Amazon, the Whitin brand. You're talking about a wide toe box: they have a wide toe box, their canvas line is back, they make a minimalist style in synthetics, and their price range is around $40. So far I own a white canvas pair (gum sole) and a white leather pair (white sole). I have a wide foot and really appreciate these. For a few years they took their canvas shoes off Amazon, and I see that now they're back. I'd like to see what you have to say about cheap but practical canvas and rubber shoes made in China.
As a Vancouverite…. With an ex roommate who works for Lulu, I’m not surprised. Their yoga pants are nice but the price difference in quality compared to the Walmart versions… you’re basically just paying $100-$200 for the branding. It’s nice, but nothing special, and when you can pay 90% less for something that sure, might only last 1/2 as long (yoga pants… those shoes are junk!) the value isn’t always in the “higher” quality brand.
