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See-Through Pants Problem Behind Her, Lululemon CEO To Leave

Saying that "now is the right time to bring in a CEO who will drive the next phase of Lululemon's development and growth," the yoga and athletic clothing company's chief has announced she's stepping down.

Christine Day will stay on in her job until a successor is found, Lululemon says.

Her decision comes as the company is restocking its stores with newly redesigned black yoga pants that have "more fabric across the bum." Lululemon had a big public relations problem earlier this year when women started complaining that some pants let way too much be seen — or, as the company put it, the pants suffered from "increased sheerness."

Lululemon's product chief left the company soon after the pants problem came to light. Day's impending departure is not being tied to the see-through saga. According to The Wall Street Journal:

"She told the [company's] board she had become exhausted working 18 to 20 hours a day and didn't want to commit to the three to four years of heavy business travel needed to implement international expansion plans, according to a person familiar with the matter."

Day has led Lululemon for 5 1/2 years. After the news of her upcoming departure, Lululemon's stock fell 15 percent in after-hour trading Monday.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.
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