lululemon

While I was lying in savasana before the body numbing camel posture during a recent Bikram yoga class, my mind wandered: If I won the Sign Up to Cash In Sweepstakes, which of the stores on beso would I choose for the $500 gift card? My answer: lululemon athletica. And, it’s not because I share its Canadian roots. lululemon’s appeal lies in the comfort, fit, and technical fabrics of their athletic clothes, all of which are made with a healthy dose of style. In fact, their logo includes a stylized “A,” which stands for “athletically hip,” a name that the company tested before settling on lululemon.

lululemon athletica was founded in 1998 by Chip Wilson in Vancouver, BC. According to the company’s about us history page, Chip, a 20 year veteran in the surf, skate and snowboard apparel industry, found his inspiration for the products lululemon now creates after taking his first yoga class and realizing that cotton clothes just don’t cut it for “sweaty, stretchy power yoga.” Drawing on his passion for technical athletic fabrics, lululemon creates apparel for high impact, low impact and outside use.

High impact fabrics are all moisture wicking; they pull moisture away from your skin and dry quickly. Silverescent®, a unique high impact fabric, is actually made with silver yarn. The silver gives products anti-bacterial qualities, which means they don’t stink after repeated use unlike other synthetics.

So, during the 20 second savasana, I quickly scanned lululemon’s products in my mind’s eye and concluded that I’d use the $500 gift card to pick up the Metal Vent Tech Long Sleeve Shirt, which is made with this hi-tech sliver yarn.

lululemon Metal Vent Tech Long Sleeve Shirt

After adding that to my cart, I’d probably drop in the Pacific Beach Hoodie, which is described as “the ultimate luxurious hoodie that provides the best in durability & functionality.”

lululemon Pacific Beach Hoodie

And, with $300 still to go with the Cash In Sweepstakes gift card, I’d add-in the Kung Fu Pant, a lightweight 4 way, high-impact stretch luon pant, ideal for but definitely not limited to yoga.

lululemon Stride Jacket

With the last $100, I’d add in the Woman’s lululemon Stride Jacket for my wife, who likes tops whose sleeves have thumbholes to keep her hands warm. And, its long and loose fit “will keep your bum warm too!”

Really, how can you not want to shop from a store with products as well-made and stylish as these? Particularly when they’re made from a company whose manifesto, which is emblazoned all their store bags, includes watch-words like:

• Dance, sing, floss and travel.
• Children are the orgasm of life. Just like you did not know what an orgasm was before you had one, nature does not let you know how great children are until you have them.
• Do one thing a day that scares you.

And, with if all this isn’t enough, lululemon offers FREE, FedEx Ground shipping on all orders. A recent order I placed arrived in fewer than 48 hours (that’s as good as Amazon Prime without the $89 annual subscription). Get inspired; the camel posture is powerful enough to make you faint, but it’ll also cause you wonder: what store will you pick when you win the Cash In Sweeps?