Why on earth are Lululemon making beer?

Herald online

27 Jul, 2015 10:25 PM2 mins to read

Yoga fans working up a thirst - if only they had a special yoga beer. Photo / Thinkstock

Popular activewear brand Lululemon believe they have found a way to crack open the men's market - by expanding into craft beer.

The trendy Vancouver-based yoga brand has partnered with fellow Vancouverites Stanley Park Brewing to produce a limited-edition Curiosity Lager, available in Canadian liquor stores from mid-August, news.com.au reports.

"Beer, it's the new yoga pant," the Lululemon Men Twitter account announced last week.

Beer, it's the new yoga pant. Meet Curiosity Lager by @StanleyParkBrew. The official brew of @SeaWheeze. pic.twitter.com/5td6v75rJK
— lululemon men (@lululemonmen) July 16, 2015

Curiosity Lager, which is brewed with chinook and lemon drop hops, is the official beer of Seawheeze, a half-marathon and yoga weekend in Vancouver which Lululemon calls "the most fun half-marathon in the world."

For Stanley Park Brewing the partnership is an opportunity to expand their brand outside of the typical beer-drinking set. "Just because you're a yogi, doesn't mean you won't have an occasion for beer, and we're certainly interested in talking to that crowd," director of marketing Doug Devlin told Canada's CBC News.

The limited-edition brew is in keeping with Lululemon's 'scarcity' model of merchandising, where demand is driven by the fact that they only make a limited number of garments in each style and don't make more once they sell out, with new styles being released each week.

Meet Curiosity Lager by @StanleyParkBrew. The official brew of @SeaWheeze coming soon to a party near you. pic.twitter.com/wWQIs1VpR5
— lululemon (@lululemon) July 15, 2015

It remains to be seen whether the beer will face the same accusations of elitism and body shaming as the brand's clothes have in the past. In 2013 founder and former CEO Chip Wilson was criticised after saying some women's bodies "just don't work" in their yoga pants.