Lululemon founder Chip Wilson is taking backlash for his recent comments about the brand’s adoption of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies — which he said led to the use of “unhealthy,” “sickly,” and “not inspirational” models to promote the brand.
Wilson, who left the company in 2015, but remains its largest individual shareholder, complained that with the move to include models he deemed “unhealthy,” the company was moving toward promoting diversity over health and fitness.
“They’re trying to become like the Gap, everything to everybody. And I think the definition of a brand is that you’re not everything to everybody,” he explained during an interview with Forbes. “You’ve got to be clear that you don’t want certain customers coming in.”
Joanna Schwartz, a marketing professor at Georgia College & State University, told Newsweek that the…
