I’m a huge Costco fan and never need an excuse to go. I’ve always appreciated that despite what is going on in the outside world, their prices remain reasonable. In my area, even eggs never got super expensive, and while they did raise prices for a little while, they quickly came back down. (I swear, we’d have President Harris right now if everyone shopped at Costco.)
One of the things that Costco is well known for is their affordably priced clothing. While they sell name brands like Calvin Klein (I love those jeans), Adidas, and Banana Republic, their Kirkland brand is doing the Lord’s work. Over the years, I have amassed quite the collection of both Danskin and Kirkland leggings. They are the absolute best for travel and lounging. Those leggings have been around the world with me. This is where Lululemon enters the chat. For the past few months, Costco has been selling athleisure that allegedly dupes certain Lulu items. Last week, the company, who has always been litigious when it comes to their designs, sued Costco for selling pants, jackets, and hoodies that they say violate patent and trademark rights. The brands listed in the lawsuit are Kirkland, Danskin, Jockey, Spyder, and Hi-Tec.
You know the old saying, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?” Well, that doesn’t necessarily play well in the world of business, particularly retail. Dupes, knockoffs, copycats—whatever you want to call them—if a high-priced brand is selling something hot, they’re not too happy when another retailer sells anything close to its likeness for less.
On Friday, June 27, lululemon filed a lawsuit against Costco in a California federal court accusing the warehouse club of selling hoodies, pants and jackets that they feel bear a strikingly similar resemblance to their own wares.
According to lululemon’s lawsuit, they state that Costco’s versions violate the patent and trademark rights lululemon holds over their own clothing designs. More specifically, it’s lululemon’s ABC pants, Define jackets and Scuba hoodies that the retailer alleges Costco is copying, then selling them under their private label Kirkland brand.
The ABC pants, which are part of lululemon’s men’s clothing offerings, actually come in a variety of different styles, from classic-fit, 5-pocket pants to joggers. Prices on these pants range from $98 – $148. Over at Costco, a pair of Kirkland Signature Men’s Commuter Pants costs just $19.99.
A cursory search of Costco.com for items similar to lululemon’s Scuba hoodie or Define jacket didn’t turn up any results that fit a similar profile to those designs.
Lululemon’s lawsuit states, “Indeed, one of the purposes of selling ‘dupes’ is to confuse consumers.”
So what is the athleticwear retailer asking for? They’re requesting an unspecified amount of monetary damages, as well as a court order that would necessitate Costco stops selling these items.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out in court, how Costco responds and how this affects the way retailers address what they deem as “dupes” in the future.
”[O]ne of the purposes of selling ‘dupes’ is to confuse consumers.” How so? By reminding them that there is a more affordable option that’s comparative in quality? Many moons ago, before I had kids, I got caught up in the Lululemon craze. I’m talking early 2010s here. I loved how well they fit, even if I could only really afford to shop from their clearance racks. After I had kids, though, my spending priorities changed (yay, daycare!). I was so excited when I discovered Costco’s athleisure wear. It was awesome to wear something comparable that was in my price range.
Dupes are not a new thing. For every person who buys a dupe, there is also someone who is into the brand name. That said, there have been some comparison pieces written about the items in question. It does seem like at the very least, Kirkland’s 5 Pocket Performance Pants are pretty similar. I’m absolutely biased here, though, so I’m not sure if this is more of a legal or an ethical question. After spending a decent amount of time on different Reddit threads dedicated to this lawsuit, I’m pretty sure that Lulu is causing a Streisand Effect here. If people didn’t know they could get $100 pants from Costco for $20, they do now.