Shirt Sham: Lululemon’s VitaSea Is Seaweed-less

I must admit I am fascinated by green workout gear. Not the color green (although I actually just got an emerald green running skirt recently that I love), I am talking about sustainability. Clothing manufacturers are using all kinds of new fabrics, some made from bamboo for its natural anti-microbial properties plus sustainability.

Sometimes, these miracle fabrics are not all they are labeled to be. Lululemon has a line of clothes they call VitaSea, made with fabric containing seaweed – according to the clothing tags the fabric is 23% seaweed fiber. The fabric, they say, “releases marine amino acids, minerals and vitamins into the skin upon contact with moisture.”

The New York Times smelled something fishy, and after receiving a tip, decided to test the contents of the fabric. The lab found no real discernible chemical difference between the VitaSea shirt and a regular cotton shirt. Lululemon’s rebuttal: The fabric feels different. But that feeling is not going to provide the amino acids sweating in a VitaSea tank is supposed to provide. Before you get all up in arms, TreeHugger would like to point out they believe the science and research behind the NYT's testing is sub par. Seacal, the fabric used in lululemon's VitaSea products previously had been certified to contain 5% seaweed fiber. It does seem though that lululemon didn't really do their research either.

Did lululemon hurt anyone? No, but it just seems like they should research their fabrics more thoroughly. And, if the fabric feels good and the clothes are functional, attractive and sell themselves, why make false claims?