How to Identify Fake lululemon Merchandise

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Updated: 2/12/2024 | How to Identify Fake lululemon Merchandise

lululemon is a premium activewear brand with a cult following. Their success and popularity has encouraged manufacturers to replicate their products to sell at a fraction of the cost. These fake lululemon items are often referred to as “replicas” or “counterfeit” products.

Where to Buy Real lululemon

If you want 100% authentic lululemon, you can buy products directly at the following places:

• In-store at lululemon
• Online at lululemon.com
• At one of their outlet stores.
• At a warehouse sale (online or in-person)
• Select studio partners (most often at yoga studios and luxury fitness centers)
• Collaborations with Fitness Brands (ie. Soul Cycle and Barry’s Bootcamp)

We realize that lululemon is a bit spendy, so people typically try to find deals on the secondary market. If you go this route to buy lulu, you may run into fake lululemon.

Many people will be unable to tell if something is authentic or fake, especially if you’re not familiar with the brand.

In this article, we will help you spot fake lululemon apparel and show you what you can do if you happen to buy counterfeit lulu.

How to Tell If Your lululemon is Fake

There are many identifiers you can look for. Here are the most obvious ways to tell if you’re lululemon item is a fake.

#1 Subpar Quality

The quality of fake lululemon products is NEVER the same as lululemon. lululemon uses proprietary fabric that is high quality and tested over and over again for performance and durability.

Fake lululemon will typically feel and perform differently. We’ll go over things you should look for below.

Common quality issues seen in replica lululemon products:

• Puckered seams – The seams may cause some ruching or shrinkage of the fabric. This will also cause some fit issues when worn.
• Fabric is very rough. The fabric may be prone to pilling and will worsen with each wash and wear.
• Fabric does not retain its shape. The fabric may stretch to the point that it can no longer be worn or will slide down.
• The threads used on seams are a different color from the fabric. This is a huge indicator that your lululemon item is fake.
• Fabric will fade quickly over time. Fake lululemon fabric will fade quickly and often irregularly. Colors will fade more in certain spots than others. There may also be some sun bleaching if you leave the product under the sun for too long.
• Embroidered lululemon logos are less circular and more oblong. This is especially prominent on Scuba hoodies.

#2 Popular or Best Selling Items are Often Counterfeited

You should always check styles that are very popular or core items. Some of these styles include Align Pants, Wunder Under Pants, Scuba Hoodies, Cool Racerback Tanks, Define Jackets and much more.

The amount of counterfeits being produced is alarming, with most coming from China.

Related: What are the lululemon Core Products?

#3 Reflective Logo is Off

The lululemon logo is a great way to identify if an item is real or fake. On counterfeit pieces. the logo will often look elongated and peel off easily after a few washes. It will also often lack the reflective quality.

Oftentimes, the OM symbol will look off (see example image below).

Do not mistake the men’s reflective logo as a fake. The men’s logo will be hexagonally shaped or have reflective corners (pictured below).

#4 The Print Has NEVER Been in Production

If you question a print or color, verify it’s authenticity in a Facebook group (there are many of them) or take it into a lululemon store to verify.

You can also send me photos and a message on Instagram and I’ll happily check out your item.

If a print and color cannot be identified, it is most likely fake.

Related: lululemon Facebook Groups: Buy lululemon for Cheap and Meet Friends

#5 Stripes Don’t Line Up

Another good indicator of fake lulu is that lines do not match up. Fake lululemon products will often have lines that do not match up or are even sewn on crooked.

If you see crooked or non-matching lines, it’s a sure bet to verify if your item is fake or not. I would avoid it altogether because it may not even look appealing when worn.

#6 A Seller Has Too Much Product

If you’re shopping a seller, whether they have many positive reviews or none at all, you should quickly scan their inventory to see if they have multiples of the same item. If they do, it’s safe to assume that they are counterfeit.

You should read reviews thoroughly prior to buying. You might find negative reviews that indicate that a seller is selling fake products. Afterward, you should always report them to lululemon Guest Education Centre (GEC) and the platform the counterfeit items are being sold on (ie. eBay, Poshmark, etc.)

#7 The Hang and Rip Tags Have Misspelled Words or Weird Font

Prior to buying anything New With Tags (NWT), make sure you ask the seller to provide images of the hangtag so that you can verify a products’ authenticity.

A fake hang tag will typically display the following:

• Misspelled words (“Crup” versus “Crop” or “Lycara” vs “Lycra”)
• Irregular fonts and font sizes.
• The wrong fabric is listed on the hangtag.
• Words that should be capitalized are lowercase (ie. china versus China).
• Too much spacing between the paragraphs.
• QR code does not scan properly or is not a QR code at all.
• Wrong or non-existent color code
• Barcode doesn’t scan (use the lululemon app to verify)
• Hang tags will typically be attached to the left hip of the pant at the seam.
• The RFID tag should feel slightly raised and be visible to the naked eye (see the image of real tags below). 
• You can get your item scanned in-store or via the app if you want to verify it’s authenticity. However, sometimes product info may not show up for all items. This does not mean they are fake. At that point, you can verify authenticity with an educator in-store.

Below we’ll go over some AUTHENTIC versus FAKE lululemon product tags.

AUTHENTIC lululemon Hang Tags Examples

FAKE lululemon Hang Tags Examples

A fake rip tag will typically display the following:

• Rip tag will be shiny on front and matte on the back.
• Rip tag should EASILY rip apart from the product.
• Rip tag is never made with fabric or a satin ribbon textured material.
• Misspelled words (such as “Desinged” versus “Designed”).
• Irregular fonts and font sizes.
• Text is not center-aligned (either veering to the left or right).
• Words that should be capitalized are lowercase (ie. china versus China). One exception to this rule is when lululemon lists “Naked Sensation” on their Align pants.
• Newer styles do not have the word “athletica” printed on the rip tag. When authentic, only the name “lululemon” is printed on the rip tag under the logo.
• On older styles, if there is an accent over the second a in “athleticá”, it’s definitely fake!
• Missing lululemon logo on rip tag.
• Space missing in between fabric percentages and fabric name (27%lycra vs 27% Lycra)

And here is a super vintage and authentic lululemon product info from the beginning (around the 2000’s). It was before lululemon implemented rip tags.

What to Do When You Accidentally Buy Fake lululemon?

Prior to buying lululemon on the secondary market, make sure you pay with a method that guarantees your purchase. This way, if the item turns out to be counterfeit, you can report the seller and the process to get a refund is much easier.

Prior to filing a complaint or opening up a case, you should verify if your item is actually fake. A great way to find out if an item is fake is to verify in Facebook groups or by verifying with us.

If your return is approved, go through with the process to get your refund. Afterward, we recommend reporting the seller to a Guest Education Centre (GEC) representative so that they can look into and stop counterfeit retailers.

Websites and Retailers to ALWAYS AVOID

You should NEVER ever EVER buy lululemon from these websites.

• AliExpress – This site is filled with counterfeit products that are oftentimes produced and sent from China. Avoid it at all costs.
• Amazon – Yes…you will see lululemon products on sale on Amazon. We suggest avoiding buying lululemon on Amazon at all costs. It’s almost always fake.
• http://www.lulu-lemons.org/
• http://www.asportsfans.com
• http://lululemon258.x.yupoo.com
• Taobao – See this list of counterfeit lululemon items on Taobao and AVOID them.

If you come across an online retailer selling counterfeit lululemon, report it to GEC and they will work on getting the website shut down.

Websites that have been shut down will redirect to a page that looks like this:

 

If you’d like for our team at Schimiggy to verify your lululemon item, please send us a message on Instagram along with 3-4 pictures of the tags and product. We will get back to you within 48 hours.

You can also e-mail us at schimiggy@gmail.com.

Verify If Your lululemon is Authentic

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Want to know more about lululemon?

We have an entire resource page dedicated to everything lululemon related. Please check it out!

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