Cityverse Men’s Sneaker | Men’s Sandals | lululemon
The Cityverse is Lululemon’s first men’s sneaker. The casual shoe dropped in early February initially via their app but moved quickly to their website. There aren’t any official numbers for pairs produced, but with 4 colors available, sell through looks solid on a few of the styles with the all-white pair receiving the least positive feedback due to complaints about smudges.
Lululemon isn’t exactly an option for sneakerheads so the people purchasing the shoes are probably unaware of the various tools utilized to keep icy white kicks fresh, hence the complaints for what could be considered the best-looking color of the bunch.
The Cityverse offers a compelling look at “the patient buyer” theory I discussed in an older New Balance article:
New Balance Test Run PRJ 2.0 Allows for a Quick Look at my “Patient Buyer” Theory
A quick visit to the site shows the men’s version of the sneaker is almost sold out in the white and peach colorway and there are a ton of broken sizes in the Jade and the Black colors. On the women’s side there isn’t a single broken size in the four options. In my original discussion I explained the men’s sneaker market was a difficult egg to crack. What I failed to consider was men are notorious for wanted a head-to-toe consistent look. Women tend to be less brand loyalty and more price conscious.
When the announcement for the release was made, I pondered if encroaching on men’s footwear after the successful release of men’s apparel could hurt the brand. It seems Lululemon may have found the mix needed to connect with their male audience in an interesting way. Men aren’t looking to Lulu for fitness. They are looking at the apparel from Lulu because it’s functional and typically sans logo. The Cityverse seems to make perfect sense for the brand and the early checks show that Lulu might want to reconsider their footwear strategy.
Will the Cityverse Casual Sneaker for Men Remove the Lululemon Advantage?