Lululemon Battles 'Dupe' Culture in Legal Clash with Costco
Jul/03/2025
In a telling sign of how far imitation has woven itself into modern consumerism, Lululemon has filed suit against Costco in federal court, challenging the retailer’s Kirkland-branded garments as infringing "dupes" of its signature athleisure designs. Unlike traditional trademark complaints that hinge on customer confusion, Lululemon explicitly acknowledges the rise of a brazen "dupe culture", where influencers and consumers openly promote and celebrate lookalike products under hashtags such as #LululemonDupes. The company argues that such mimicry still harms its brand by misleading customers about quality and fostering the impression—given Costco’s private-label practices—that Kirkland apparel might share the same supplier. Following visualisation shows detail info on the pending 'LULULEMON DUPE' trademark filed by Lululemon Athletica Canada on December 4, 2024, illustrating how the brand is responding defensively through intellectual property measures. At the same time, research by First Insight shows that nearly 45% of consumers, and an even greater share of high-income buyers, embrace these substitutes if the price-to-quality ratio is strong enough. Lululemon’s case, demanding damages, legal fees, and an injunction, highlights the tension between exclusivity and a marketplace increasingly at ease with imitation.
