Lululemon is rolling out the next silhouette in its new collection of footwear, designed for women first.
The Vancouver, British Columbia-based athleisure brand will launch its second sneaker style on July 26: the Lululemon Chargefeel, a versatile training shoe. The sneaker includes a dual-density foam layering system, which allows for a spectrum of motion in all directions to accommodate for various athletic activities.
The shoe will be available in both a mid-top and low version, both of which offer different ranges of motion and stability, and will be released in 14 colorways.
“This is a truly versatile, multiactivity, multicategory offering,” George Robusti, Lululemon’s VP of footwear design, told FN in an interview. He noted that the Chargefeel was built for the activities that live between running and training in the gym. That is, HIIT workouts, boxing, dance and short runs.
“All that heel-to-toe motion that you get in a running shoe, you still have here,” Robusti said, explaining how the Chargefeel is very much like a running shoe, “with benefits.”
The launch of Chargefeel marks the second major sneaker release in Lululemon’s first footwear collection, which consists of four silhouettes that are releasing throughout the course of the year. In March, Lululemon kicked off the collection with the Blissfeel running shoe. The brand also launched a slide for recovery, the Restfeel. The Strongfeel training shoe is set to debut in the fall.
Lululemon’s footwear collection has been making waves this year, thanks to its women-first approach that aims to create a shoe specifically designed for the female foot. The brand is emphasizing a rigorous process of creation that includes multiple rounds of wear-testing and footwear scan data from more than a million feet.
After the launch of the Blissfeel in March, CEO Calvin McDonald said in a call with investors that demand for the new products in Q1 were in excess of supply and “far exceeded” the company’s expectations.
The brand plans to launch a collection of men’s footwear in 2023.
Lululemon manufactures its footwear in Vietnam and China, two central footwear production regions that have been hit with lockdowns and factory closures throughout the pandemic. Despite the issues, Lululemon has managed to deliver its footwear pretty much on schedule, said Robusti.
“We were very diligent in our planning,” he said. “We’ve planned for things such as this, but we’re also agile with it as well.”
The Chargefeel Mid and Low will retail for $148 and $138, respectively. The shoes will be available starting July 26.