From the New York Times:
Lululemon Athletica has been a standout performer on Wall Street since
it went public in July, thanks to the popularity of its costly yoga and
other workout clothes, which are made with unusual materials, including
bamboo, silver, charcoal, coconut and soybeans.
One of its lines is called VitaSea, and the company says it is made
with seaweed. The fabric, according to product tags, releases marine
amino acids, minerals and vitamins into the skin upon contact with
moisture.
Lululemon, which has received positive media
coverage for its fabrics, also says the VitaSea clothing, made from
seaweed fiber supplied by a company called SeaCell, reduces stress and
provides anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, hydrating and detoxifying
benefits.
There is one problem with its VitaSea claims, however. Some of them may not be true.
The
New York Times commissioned a laboratory test of a Lululemon shirt made
of VitaSea, and reviewed a similar test performed at another lab, and
both came to the same conclusion: there was no significant difference
in mineral levels between the VitaSea fabric and cotton T-shirts.
In other words, the labs found no evidence of seaweed in the Lululemon clothing.
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UPDATE! Lululemon's rebuttal, from Canada's National Post:
Lululemon Athletica Inc. is sticking to claims that a key component
of its VitaSea clothing line is seaweed, after doubts about the
garments surfaced following a New York Times story this week.
"Tests
on the VitaSea fabrics were performed in June 2007 in the SGS
Laboratory in Hong Kong as well as confirmatory retesting conducted
[Wednesday] night in the SGS Hong Kong lab," Vancouver-based Lululemon
said in a statement. "Findings from SGS confirmed that the fabric
contains the lyocell fibers consistent with the care and content labels
on the product." SGS, an independent testing company based in
Switzerland, conducts a number of tests before each season on all of
Lululemon's fabrics, the retailer said.
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UPDATE Pt. 2! Lululemon forced to retract claims of therapeutic/performance benefits from the VitaSea line. From The Canadian Press/680 News:
The seaweed saga dragged on at Lululemon
Athletica Inc. Friday after the company was forced by
Canada's Competition Bureau to remove all claims alleging healthful
benefits from its VitaSea line of clothing said to contain the algae.
The regulatory agency said Friday the
Vancouver-based yoga wear retailer has agreed to immediately remove all
tags and other product notices that contain "unsubstantiated" claims of
therapeutic or performance benefits from its seaweed-infused line of
clothing in its nearly 40 retail stores across Canada.
..
Citing the Textile Labelling Act, the bureau
said it is illegal to make any false or misleading representations
relating to a garment, including representations regarding fibre
content.
As well, the bureau cites the Competition Act
which says all performance claims must be based on "adequate and proper
testing" prior to making claims to the public.
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