Black in Black: Lululemon's Questionably Racist Catalog
Nov 14, 2011 - by Lester Brathwaite
Active wear brand Lululemon specializes in yoga clothes, running gear and apparently unintended racism. Their Pacific Run Long Sleeve shirt -- "the ideal road run companion" -- comes in five colors, all of which are modeled by the same, white male model. That is, all but one. Inexplicably, but I guess rather fittingly, the black version of the Pacific Run Long Sleeve is modeled by a black model, whose junk -- also inexplicably -- is on major display.
The black herringbone, the plum heathered dark slate wee stripe, the dark slate heathered dark slate classic stripe (who comes up with this crap?), and the tempest blue herringbone are proudly worn by an athletic-looking Caucasian dude in loose-fitting sweatpants of some variety. Lululemon, perhaps feeling the need to diversify -- just a tad -- then threw an African American dude in the black Pacific Run Long Sleeve and a pair of tight, lycra-esque pants that leave little to the imagination.
Was this just a happy accident or was Lululemon trying to not-so-subtly imply...well, I'm not really sure what the implication could possibly be. Anyway, the point is moot since the last black guy I saw running was from Kenya and I doubt he'd ever be seen in a long sleeve anything. [Lululemon]







